Earlier this morning, I read an interview by Dirk Olin of Judicial Reports fame with the Honorable Jonathan Lippman, Chief Administrative Judge of the New York State Courts, on the burning issue of judicial salaries.  I was going to write something about it, but then I was overwhelmed by a sense of sound judgment.  Why?

Why does it matter to me, or you, whether judges get a salary increase?  When is the last time a judge asked you what he or she could do to help your business?  How many judges do you know who show the slightest concern about how they’re actions affect you?  Never, you say?  Me too.

As a younger lawyer, I remember sitting in a courtroom for hour after hour waiting to have my case called, at which time I would spend 12 seconds before the judge.  I would think to myself, does this guy have a clue what it means to me to sit here?  I do not know whether he did (though I would bet money he didn’t), but I was very clear that he didn’t care.

And what about the times that I was there at 9:30 in the morning, signed up my case first, and then had to wait a few hours for the prosecutor to leisurely stroll in.  We all know that court starts at 9:30 am, so why am I here, cooling my heals, and the judge is more than happy to let me stew half the day rather than call the case and make the prosecutor pay the price.

But then there’s the dreaded second call, where your case is called at 9:30 or so, but the prosecutor isn’t sure if his cops are available (like this was a big surprise), and will get back to the judge with whether he is ready for trial.  After 2:00.  After lunch.  And so the judge says, come back at 2.  At 2?  To first find out if anything is going to happen.  A whole friggin day lost?  Because the prosecutor is either lazy or full of it?  Give me a break.  I have other cases.  I have other things to do.  I have to make a living.  But the judge doesn’t care.

So they really don’t spend a lot of time considering how their choices affect my practice, my life or my income.  And so why should I spend any more time or bandwidth thinking about theirs? 

ADDENDUM:  I was asked by another blawger if I feared that judges might get wind of this and retaliate.  Not at all.  I am not against raises for judges, as stated previously.  But is this a priority for me?  The answer is that we are all parts of the same system, and it’s time that we all give a little thought and concern to how we treat each other in the system.  If one cog in the wheel wants the other cogs to worry about their plight, then they should demonstrate some concern about the other cogs as well.  This may not be a hard concept to understand, but few judges think about how their actions impact the others in the well.  It wouldn’t kill them to do dos. 

I will add one additional point, however.  I have made a gross generalization, and as has been pointed out to me, there are some (not many, but some) judges who do show concern for lawyers as a matter of simple courtesy and respect.  It is not a universale plague.  Merely pervasive and systemic.  Little comfort, but better than nothing.