Contemptible friend, judge (6)
I believe the answer is:
paltry
'contemptible' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'friend judge' is the wordplay.
'friend' becomes 'pal' (pal can mean a friend).
'judge' becomes 'try' (as in trialling a defendant).
'pal'+'try'='PALTRY'
(Other definitions for paltry that I've seen before include "Petty - base" , "Worthless or trivial" , "Derisory" , "not worth considering" , "Trivial or contemptible" .)