How does your judge stack up?
July 8, 2008
Ever wanted to publicly, but anonymously, praise or shred Maryland’s judges?
Move over sites like RateMyProfessors.com (and the professors’ response, rateyourstudents.blogspot.com) — The Robing Room has come to Maryland.
The 2-year-old site, which began as a venue for attorneys to rate federal judges, is now soliciting ratings of state judges. Since its inception, the site has logged 10,000 posts critiquing the nation’s roughly 1,100 federal judges, according to founder Nicholas G. Kaizer, a Manhattan litigator.
Kaizer, vice president of North Law Publishers Inc., of which the Web site is an affiliate, said he started with the big states, like California and New York. As a result of certain technical considerations, Maryland happens to be one of eight states — along with the District of Columbia — currently on the site.
The Robing Room will eventually have a site for each state’s judges and possibly a site for international judges as well, Kaizer said.
While most of Maryland’s federal judges have been rated and commented on — the district’s Chief U.S. Magistrate Judge Paul W. Grimm has been rated the best judge in the country — the state judges’ rating page is empty.
Also, I wonder if the president in charge of filling U.S. District Judge Peter J. Messitte’s seat will take note of comments that call Grimm “the best man I know” and say he “deserves to be elevated.”
BRENDAN KEARNEY, Legal Affairs Writer
Sphere: Related ContentTips for wearing that red robe
June 27, 2008
The Board of Public Works meeting was running late Wednesday, leaving many Maryland judges sweltering in the late June sun as they waited to attend the swearing in of Sally D. Adkins to the Court of Appeals in the Legislative Services Building in Annapolis.
The jovial jurists appeared not to mind the 30-minute delay of the scheduled noon proceeding, particularly Court of Appeals Chief Judge Robert M. Bell, who brought his digital camera and took pictures of the attendees.
Asked whether the board, an executive-branch agency, was showing unconstitutional disdain for the co-equal judicial branch, Bell responded in the negative.
“They’ve got work to do,” Bell said. “I’m not going to fight about that.”
Other current and former members of the high court congratulated and offered advice to Adkins, including retired Judge Dale R. Cathell, whom she replaced on the bench.
“Sally, you made it. Now, relax,” Cathell said. “It’s a long haul from where you start out to get here.”
Judge Glenn T. Harrell Jr., when asked what advice he would give Adkins, joked that when writing opinions “she should ask herself, ‘What would Judge Harrell do?’”
Judges Joseph F. Murphy Jr., Lynne A. Battaglia and Clayton Greene Jr. were longer on praise than advice, saying they expected Adkins would be “wonderful,” that she would “step right in” and “make the transition very quickly” from the Court of Special Appeals.
And Peter B. Krauser, chief judge of the Court of Special Appeals, jokingly offered self-serving advice to his former colleague upon her elevation to the higher court.
“Remember these words: To reverse is human, to affirm divine,” he said.
STEVE LASH, Legal Affairs Writer
Don’t read blogs! (And nine other stress-busters for judges)
June 18, 2008
Judges might appear to have the life, the ability to rule from on high. But their job is intensely stressful.
For each decision judges make, they incur the wrath of at least one of the parties appearing before them, not to mention the possibility that they will be hounded by a critical public and suffer what might be regarded as the indignity of being reversed on appeal.
To help his state-court colleagues deal with the stress, U.S. District Judge J. Frederick Motz announced a 10-step program, of sorts, during his appearance Wednesday at the Maryland Judicial Conference meeting in Linthicum:
1. “Enjoy your family and friends … the best cure for your discomforts.”
2. “Take vacations … and make sure you don’t take your BlackBerries.”
3. Volunteer at a place where people call you by your first name, not “judge.”
4. Exercise;
5. “Read literature and history, not blogs and newspapers” rife with criticism of judicial decisions.
6. “Have confidence in your own judgment,” and do not fret over being reversed by a higher court — “They [appellate judges] had the last, not necessarily the better word.”
7. When in your chambers, “surround yourself with people you like.”
8. “Try to find one of your colleagues who will be your buddy” to act as a sounding board and help you avoid bringing your work-related stress home with you.
9. “Take your work, but not yourself, seriously”; and
10. “Always be true to yourself. We have to live with our own consciences.”
Are there any judges – or lawyers – out there who can add to the list?
STEVE LASH, Legal Affairs Writer
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