Dear Editor,
I enjoyed reading both the letter about “the snoozing judge” from the “Anonymous” attorney and the responsive advice of Judge Orme. I do have reason, however, to doubt that the anonymous attorney’s observations are broadly accurate – it’s a curse of our time that the anecdote becomes the generality. I was also surprised that you did not consult any trial court judges, since it is obvious that the letter is aimed at us. Furthermore, each one of us spends more time listening to lawyers and litigants than a dozen appellate court judges, so we have more “opportunity” to doze in court. As one member of the trial bench, I suggest that attorneys who encounter sleepy judges ask themselves a couple of questions.
First, how does your presentation sound? I once listened for four hours to English barristers presenting a murder case in London’s Central Circuit Court, the “Old Bailey.” They spoke as clearly and directly as stage actors, and the result was engrossing. Do you sound practiced and professional, or are you mumbling and stumbling with mind-numbing effect?
Second, do you know when you should simply stop talking? On occasion, I have listened to attorneys who seem to think they can’t lose if they just don’t stop talking – it’s like a courtroom filibuster. Do you recognize when you have all the testimony you need or will ever get from your witness? Do you make your point and then just stop talking, or do you flog it until the judicial mind retreats to sleep in self-defense?
I don’t doubt that some trial judges become sleepy sometimes, but before following Learned Ham’s suggestions, some attorneys who encounter a sleepy judge should consider reciting, in solemn tones, a paraphrase of Cassius’s speech from Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar: “The fault is not in our judges, but (maybe) in ourselves.”
Wakefully yours,
Judge Rand Beacham