Are there negative consequences to judges decisions being overturned on appeal?

Factual Questions
1

I was involved in a child custody dispute many years ago. Without going into any real detail I should have been awarded custody under any interpretation of current case law and established precedent.

The judge returned a judgement that had never been done before and would have established a new precedent.

My lawyer then asked that he provide a “finding of fact”. Basically requiring him to “show his work” as a math analogy. Also putting him on notice that we would be appealing his ruling.

Two weeks later my lawyer received his finding of fact paperwork as well as a new ruling that completely threw out his previous ruling and rewrote it according to established precedent. We called his bluff and he folded.

I’ve wondered since then why he folded. If there were no repercussions to being overruled, why not let me spend my time and money? Is there a judicial scorecard somewhere that is relevant to anyone?

2

Judges are concerned about their reputations. Depending on the case being overturned may or may not damage his reputation.

3

It’s quite possible that being asked for a statement of facts caused him to actually review the record closely and realize there was no reasonable basis for his original ruling, so he rewrote it.

4

I think Tired and Cranky’s explanation is the simples and most likely to be right.