Background of Judges Makes a Difference

[Tom Lehman]

Professor James Brudney of the Ohio State College of Law analyzed all
appeals court decisions reviewing NLRB decisions from 1986 to 1993 and
reached some interesting conclusions.  Judges who graduated from elite
colleges were significantly more likely to reject the union's position
than judges from less prestigious(and presumably less expensive)
schools.  Surprisingly, judges who had represented management in NLRA
cases before going on the bench were signiticantly more likely to
support union claims than judges who lacked that professional
experience.