Anonymous evaluations of professors by their students can be caustic or catty. But they are also unfailingly candid, and collectively they paint a revealing picture of a teacher's strengths and weaknesses.

*      *      *

But on the whole, in 12 sets of evaluations spanning 700 pages, there was almost only glowing praise for Judge Kavanaugh's teaching. More than a few students said he was the most impressive law school professor they had encountered.

*      *      *

But J.D. Vance, the author of "Hillbilly Elegy" and a former student of Judge Kavanaugh's at Yale, said good teachers and good judges shared important qualities, including civility and intellectual honesty.

"He really didn't like it when you'd try to tear down another argument unfairly," said Mr. Vance, whose wife, Usha Vance, served as a law clerk to Judge Kavanaugh. "He really wanted you to identify the best version of an argument and not assume that your intellectual opponents were all idiots. That goes to how he'll treat litigants. It goes to how he'll treat his colleagues on the bench."