Chief Judge is a title that can refer to the highest-ranking judge of a court that has more than one judge. The meaning and usage of the term vary from one court system to another. While the term "Chief Judge" is used in some courts, other courts use terms such as "Chief Justice," "Presiding Judge," "President Judge," or "Administrative Judge."

In the United States courts of appeals, the Chief Judge has certain administrative responsibilities and presides over en banc sessions of the court and meetings of the Judicial Council. The Chief Judge remains an active judge of the court hearing and deciding cases, but at his or her option may elect to take on a reduced caseload to provide time to perform administrative responsibilities.

In order to qualify for the office of Chief Judge, a judge must have been in active service on the court for at least one year, be under the age of 65, and have not previously served as Chief Judge. A vacancy in the office of Chief Judge is filled by the judge highest in seniority among the group of qualified judges. The Chief Judge serves for a term of seven years or until age 70, whichever occurs first. The age restrictions are waived if no members of the court would otherwise be qualified for the position. Unlike the Chief Justice of the United States, a Chief Judge returns to active service after the expiration of his or her term and does not create a vacancy on the bench by the fact of his or her promotion. See 28 U.S.C. § 45.

Judge Alex is an American syndicated courtroom television show that debuted September 12, 2005. The host/arbitrator is Judge Alex Ferrer, a former police officer, lawyer, and Florida judge. The series currently tapes at the Fox Television Center in Los Angeles, California after spending its first five seasons taping at KRIV's studio in Houston, Texas (KRIV is Fox's Houston affiliate).

The show was brought to 20th Television, the syndication arm of Fox, by Executive Producers Burt Wheeler and Sharon Sussman. The pilot was shot at Tribune Studios in Hollywood, California, in November 2004. The series began production in January 2005 and is directed by Arthur Bergel.

Alex Kozinski (born July 23, 1950) is Chief Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, an essayist, and a judicial commentator.

Kozinski was born in Bucharest, Romania. In 1962, when he was 12, his parents, both Holocaust survivors, brought him to the United States. The family settled in the Los Feliz neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, where his father, Moses, ran a small grocery store.

Kozinski graduated from the University of California, Los Angeles, receiving an A.B. degree in 1972, and from the UCLA School of Law, receiving a J.D. degree in 1975. Kozinski clerked for future Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy on the Ninth Circuit from 1975 to 1976, and then for Chief Justice Warren Burger from 1976 to 1977. From June 5, 1981 to August 1982, Kozinski served as the first U.S. Special Counsel appointed by President Ronald Reagan.

In 1982, Kozinski was appointed chief judge at the newly formed United States Court of Federal Claims. In 1985, at the age of 35, Kozinski was appointed to a new seat at the U. S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit by President Reagan, making him the youngest federal appeals court judge. Defending the court against criticism because of a controversial decision, Elk Grove Unified School District v. Newdow, Kozinski went on record emphasizing judicial independence: "It seems to me that this is what makes this country truly great—that we can have a judiciary where the person who appoints you doesn't own you." He also took a stand against the charge that the Ninth Circuit is overly liberal, which led some to call it "The Notorious Ninth": "I can say with some confidence that cries that the Ninth Circuit is so liberal are just simply misplaced." On November 30, 2007, Kozinski was appointed the tenth chief judge of the Ninth Circuit.

Jonathan Lippman (born May 19, 1945) is an American jurist and currently Chief Judge of the New York Court of Appeals.

Lippman is a Manhattan native. He attended New York City public schools, graduated from New York University (NYU) in 1965, and received his law degree from the New York University School of Law in 1968.

In 1989, he became the deputy chief administrator for management support of the New York State court system, responsible for the day-to-day management. In 1995, then-Governor George E. Pataki appointed Lippman as judge of the New York Court of Claims. In 1996, Lippman became New York's chief administrative judge. He served in that capacity for 11 years until 2007, the longest anyone has spent in that position. In 2005, he was elected to the State Supreme Court for a 14-year term. In May 2007, then-Governor, Eliot Spitzer, appointed Lippman to the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court, First Judicial Department.

On January 13, 2009, Governor David Paterson appointed Lippman to the position of Chief Judge of the New York Court of Appeals. Lippman was chosen from a list provided to Governor Paterson by the New York Commission on Judicial Nomination, in a process that drew scrutiny in 2008 when the commission did not refer any female or minority candidates to the governor for selection. Lippman was confirmed in his position by voice vote of the State Senate on February 12, 2009. He succeeds Judith S. Kaye, who served as the state's first female Chief Judge from 1993 to 2008.

John Glover Roberts, Jr. (born January 27, 1955) is the 17th Chief Justice of the United States. He has served since 2005, having been nominated by President George W. Bush after the death of Chief Justice William Rehnquist. He has been described as having a conservative judicial philosophy in his jurisprudence.

Roberts grew up in northern Indiana and was educated in a private school before attending Harvard College and Harvard Law School, where he was managing editor of the Harvard Law Review. After being admitted to the bar, he served as a law clerk for William Rehnquist before taking a position in the Attorney General's office during the Reagan Administration. He went on to serve the Reagan Administration and the George H. W. Bush administration in the Department of Justice and the Office of the White House Counsel, before spending fourteen years in private law practice. During this time, he argued thirty-nine cases before the Supreme Court.

In 2003, he was appointed as a judge of the D.C. Circuit by President George W. Bush, where he served until his nomination to be an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court. When Chief Justice Rehnquist died before Roberts's confirmation hearings, Bush renominated Roberts to fill the newly vacant center seat.