JUDGES AND ATTORNEYS FROM ARIZONA, CALIFORNIA, COLORADO, NEW MEXICO, AND TEXAS WERE THE SUBJECTS OF THIS STUDY. VERY LITTLE IS KNOWN ABOUT CHICANO JUDGES. OF THE 59 FEDERAL DISTRICT COURT JUDGES IN THE SOUTHWEST, TWO HAVE SPANISH SURNAMES. ONLY ONE IS CHICANO. AT THE STATE LEVEL, ONLY ONE OUT OF 961 JUDGES IS CHICANO. THIS LOW REPRESENTATION PERSISTS THROUGHOUT THE COURT SYSTEMS OF THE FIVE STATES, WITH THE EXCEPTION OF NEW MEXICO WHERE 18 CHICANO JUDGES CONSTITUTE 31.6 PERCENT OF THE STATE'S TOTAL JUDICIARY. IT WAS FOUND THAT CHICANO STATE JUDGES GENERALLY WERE BORN AND RAISED IN THE STATE WHERE THEY HOLD OFFICE. LOCAL JUDGES, ALSO, TEND TO PRESIDE IN LOCALITIES WHERE THEY WERE BORN. NEARLY ALL CHICANO JUDGES ATTENDED UNDERGRADUATE COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES IN THEIR HOME STATES. EXCEPT FOR THE NEW MEXICO JUDGES, MOST ATTENDED LAW SCHOOLS IN THEIR OWN STATE. THE AVERAGE AGE OF CHICANO JUDGES IN CALIFORNIA WAS 48.3 YEARS, WHILE IN NEW MEXICO AND TEXAS THE AVERAGE AGES WERE 61.2 YEARS AND 59.6 YEARS, RESPECTIVELY. EXAMINING THE CHICANO LEGAL PROFESSION, IT WAS FOUND THAT A FOURTH TO A THIRD OF ALL ATTORNEYS WERE ENGAGED IN PRIVATE PRACTICE. IT WAS POSTULATED, HOWEVER, THAT MOST OF THESE ATTORNEYS WOULD ENGAGE IN PUBLIC PRACTICE AT SOME POINT IN THEIR LIVES. THE CHICANO ATTORNEYS ARE VIEWED AS A DISTINCT ELITE. THEY HAVE HELD EITHER STATE ELECTIVE OFFICE, JUDICIAL POSITIONS, BEEN PROSECUTORS, OR ARE MEMBERS OF OLD ELITE FAMILIES. MANY HAVE BEEN TO LAW SCHOOLS OUT-OF-STATE, BUT THE ELITE FAMILIES HAVE EITHER STUDIED AT ST. LOUIS UNIVERSITY OR AT LAW SCHOOLS IN THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA. MANY HAVE GONE TO CATHOLIC LAW SCHOOLS. THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN COLLEGE CHOICE AND RELIGIOUS ATTITUDES AND FAMILY INFLUENCES IS NOT CLEAR. SELF-PERCEPTION OF ETHNIC IDENTITY IS KNOWN LEAST. FURTHER RESEARCH IS SUGGESTED. EXTENSIVE TABULAR DATA AND NOTES ARE INCLUDED. (AUTHOR ABSTRACT MODIFIED--MLC)