Judges, Magistrate Judges, and Magistrates
Arbitrate, advise, adjudicate, or administer justice in a court of law. May sentence defendant in criminal cases according to government statutes or sentencing guidelines. May determine liability of defendant in civil cases. May perform wedding ceremonies.
- US jobs
- 24,030
- Median wage
- $153,990 a year
- Job family
- Legal
Can agents do the work of judges, magistrate judges, and magistrates?
We read the evidence at the level of the job family, Legal:
- Task levelUnexploredNo task-level benchmark in our collection tests legal work, such as contract review or legal research with tools.
- Project levelPartialOnly adjacent evidence. APEX-Agents includes corporate-law tasks: across banking, consulting, and law, the best agent passes 73.5% on the first try. GDPval includes lawyers among its 44 occupations. Neither benchmark tests work with real clients, courts, or deadlines.
Benchmarks for the job family
These cover work in legal, not always this occupation's tasks.
- 1846 EloClaude Opus 5.5 (Adaptive Reasoning, Max Effort, Default Fallback) · 23 Sep 2026Unrated
Typical tasks
From O*NET 31.0. Core tasks first. Few of these tasks have a benchmark today.
- Sentence defendants in criminal cases, on conviction by jury, according to applicable government statutes.
- Monitor proceedings to ensure that all applicable rules and procedures are followed.
- Instruct juries on applicable laws, direct juries to deduce the facts from the evidence presented, and hear their verdicts.
- Write decisions on cases.
- Read documents on pleadings and motions to ascertain facts and issues.
- Rule on admissibility of evidence and methods of conducting testimony.
- Preside over hearings and listen to allegations made by plaintiffs to determine whether the evidence supports the charges.
- Award compensation for damages to litigants in civil cases in relation to findings by juries or by the court.
- Advise attorneys, juries, litigants, and court personnel regarding conduct, issues, and proceedings.
- Research legal issues and write opinions on the issues.
- Interpret and enforce rules of procedure or establish new rules in situations where there are no procedures already established by law.
- Issue arrest warrants.
Other job titles for this occupation (43)
Circuit Court Judge · Circuit Judge · County Judge · Court of Appeals Judge · District Court Judge · Judge · Justice of the Peace · Magisterial District Judge · Magistrate · Superior Court Judge · Administrative Court Justice · Appeals Specialist · Appellate Court Judge · Appellate Immigration Judge · Ballot Processing Judge · Bankruptcy Judge · Chancery Master · Chief Judge · County Court Judge · Criminal Court Judge · Criminal Judge · District Judge · Election Judge · General Magistrate · Immigration Judge · Jurist · Justice · Juvenile Court Judge · Legal Referee · Magistrate Judge · Municipal Court Judge · Municipal Court Magistrate · Municipal Judge · Police Judge · Police Justice · Police Magistrate · Presiding Judge · Probate Judge · Restorative Justice Coordinator · Superior Court Justice · Trial Court Judge · Trial Justice · Tribal Judge