Attitudes were compared in the areas of court efficiency, fairness, responsiveness and competence. These comparisons revealed very little difference between States having different formal judicial selection systems. Greater differences were apparent between the general and attentive publics on the one hand, and judges and lawyers on the other, irrespective of the formal selection system in the respondents' States. It is concluded that if the method of judicial selection is important, informal aspects of the judicial selection process are likely to be more relevant than formal selection schemes for determining the level of public and legal-professional satisfaction with the courts. (Publisher abstract)