Every two years, the Dallas Bar Association polls its 11,000 members as to the performance of the county, state and federal judiciary. To qualify for voting, an attorney must have appeared before the judge in the last two year period. The results are published to the bar and available to the public at http://www.dallasbar.org/judiciary/poll_main.asp. When he was on the bench, Jeff Coen was evaluated by the attorneys who practiced before him every other year from 1995 to 2005. Below is a chart of the approval ratings for each category and year.
Jeff received the highest rating of all judges evaluated for an eight year period and his ratings have not been surpassed since. Even while on dialysis and recovering from a kidney and pancreas transplant in 1996-97, Judge Coen received an 82% approval rating for "being a hard working judge."
In the July 2005 judicial evaluation poll, attorneys were given the opportunity to make specific anonymous comments to the judges. The intent was to allow attorneys to address specific issues with the individual judges.
A few of the comments describing Judge Coen are:
"A great family law judge. Listens to each side but is not swayed by lawyer's tricks. Understands the practice of law and the applicable legal principles."
"Best Family District Court Judge."
"Big heart would be his Indian tribal name."
"Excellent knowledge of the law, Rules of Civil Procedure and case law; listens carefully and does not belittle parties or attorneys."
"One of the best - even when he rules against me. I know it's because of an honest difference of opinion on the law or facts - not bias, cronyism, etc."
"This judge should be the example of the perfect judge - available, fair, low key, treats everyone the same, works hard, is particular, a true public servant. - And I'm not even a Republican!
No measure of judicial job performance is more credible than the opinion of attorneys who practice before a judge. Overwhelmingly the Dallas Bar Association believed that Jeff was one of Dallas County's finest judges.
Poll Results
| 1995 | 1997 | 1999 | 2001 | 2003 | 2005 | |
| Is this judge hard-working? | 89% | 82% | 92% | 94% | 95% | 96% |
| Does this judge correctly apply the law? | 90% | 92% | 97% | 95% | 94% | 93% |
| Does this judge demonstrate a proper judicial temperament and demeanor? | 92% | 89% | 98% | 97% | 96% | 95% |
| Do you approve of this judge's overall performance? | 87% | 90% | 97% | 95% | 94% | 95% |
