# 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.

- **SOC code:** 23-1023.00
- **Canonical URL:** https://singulariki.com/roles/role-23-1023-00
- **Also known as:** District Court Judge, Judge, Magistrate, Superior Court Judge, Circuit Court Judge, Circuit Judge, County Judge, Court of Appeals Judge
- **Frame:** "AI exposure" means task overlap (how codifiable the work is), not jobs lost or a forecast. Every figure below is traced to a named public dataset.

## What this work is

**Core tasks** (O*NET):
- Sentence defendants in criminal cases, on conviction by jury, according to applicable government statutes.
- Rule on custody and access disputes, and enforce court orders regarding custody and support of children.
- 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.
- Conduct preliminary hearings to decide issues, such as whether there is reasonable and probable cause to hold defendants in felony cases.
- 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.

**Emerging tasks** (O*NET):
- Issue search or arrest warrants.

## Skills, tools, capabilities

**Knowledge, skills & abilities** (O*NET, highest importance first):
- Active Listening _(essential_skill)_
- Law and Government _(knowledge)_
- Critical Thinking _(essential_skill)_
- Oral Comprehension _(ability)_
- Deductive Reasoning _(ability)_
- English Language _(knowledge)_
- Written Comprehension _(ability)_
- Reading Comprehension _(essential_skill)_
- Judgment and Decision Making _(transferable_skill)_
- Oral Expression _(ability)_
- Inductive Reasoning _(ability)_
- Writing _(essential_skill)_

**Skills in demand:**
- Active Listening _(Common Skill)_
- Critical Thinking _(Common Skill)_
- Deductive Reasoning _(Common Skill)_
- English Language _(Common Skill)_
- Reading Comprehension _(Common Skill)_
- Inductive Reasoning _(Common Skill)_
- Writing _(Common Skill)_
- Complex Problem Solving _(Common Skill)_
- Speech Recognition _(Specialized Skill)_
- Social Perceptiveness _(Common Skill)_
- Active Learning _(Common Skill)_
- Information Ordering _(Specialized Skill)_

**Tools & technology:**
- Microsoft Excel _(hot technology, in demand)_
- Microsoft Office software _(hot technology, in demand)_
- Microsoft Outlook _(hot technology, in demand)_
- Adobe Acrobat _(hot technology)_
- Microsoft PowerPoint _(hot technology)_
- Microsoft Word _(hot technology)_
- Courtroom scheduling software
- Email software
- Hyland OnBase Enterprise Content Management
- LexisNexis
- LinkedIn
- Online databases

## AI exposure & outlook

- **AI task-overlap index:** 62nd percentile (Moderate) across all occupations — composite of current-era exposure studies (ai-exposure-index-v1).
- **Overall AI exposure (Felten et al.):** 99th percentile (High) — source: felten_aioe.
- **LLM task exposure, γ (OpenAI / Eloundou):** 69th percentile (High) — source: eloundou_gamma.
- **AI assistant applicability (Microsoft):** 21st percentile (Low) — source: microsoft_applicability.
- **Frey–Osborne (2013, historical computerization estimate):** 44th percentile — kept separate from current-era studies.
- **Remote-capable (Dingel–Neiman):** no — task structure, not who actually works remote.
- **Projected employment (BLS 2024–34):** 2.5% growth (About average); 0.9k annual openings; 27.3k → 28k jobs.
- **Pay & employment (BLS OEWS, May 2024):** median $156,210; 25,580 employed.

## How people actually use AI here

Anthropic Economic Index — measured AI conversations mapped to this occupation's tasks:

- **Automation vs augmentation:** 54% automation, 33% augmentation (usage-weighted).
- **Autonomy median:** 3.0 (higher = AI acts more independently).
- **Dominant collaboration mode:** directive.

**Tasks most handed to AI here:**
- Research legal issues and write opinions on the issues. _(1.4% of measured AI use; directive)_
- Write decisions on cases. _(0.8% of measured AI use; directive)_
- Read documents on pleadings and motions to ascertain facts and issues. _(0.5% of measured AI use; directive)_

**Example prompts (honest phrasings of the tasks above — starting points, not endorsed instructions):**
- Help me research legal issues and write opinions on the issues.
- Help me write decisions on cases.
- Help me read documents on pleadings and motions to ascertain facts and issues.

## Sources

- **O*NET** (30.3) — U.S. Department of Labor / National Center for O*NET Development. https://www.onetcenter.org/database.html
- **BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS)** (May 2024) — U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. https://www.bls.gov/oes/
- **BLS Employment Projections** (2024–2034) — U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. https://www.bls.gov/emp/
- **Anthropic Economic Index** (v4 (2026-01-15) + v2 (2025-03-27)) — Anthropic. https://www.anthropic.com/economic-index
- **Microsoft “Working with AI”** (working-with-ai) — Microsoft Research. https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/research/
- **“GPTs are GPTs” (Eloundou et al.)** (arXiv 2303.10130) — OpenAI / academic. https://arxiv.org/abs/2303.10130
- **AI Occupational Exposure (AIOE)** (Felten, Raj & Seamans) — academic. https://github.com/AIOE-Data/AIOE
- **Frey & Osborne (2013)** (frey-osborne-automation) — academic. https://www.oxfordmartin.ox.ac.uk/publications/the-future-of-employment/
- **Dingel & Neiman (2020)** (dingel-neiman-workathome) — academic. https://github.com/jdingel/DingelNeiman-workathome

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_Generated from Singulariki's joined dataset; data snapshot 2026-06-02T21:00:32.945303+00:00. https://singulariki.com/roles/role-23-1023-00_