|
 |
|
What It's Like to Be a Judge
By Jennifer Jackson, JD (Family Law News, Judicial Survey, Vol.
17, No. 2)
Participants:
Los Angeles County: The Hon. Martha Goldin
San Luis Obispo County: The Hon. Harry E. Woolpert
"If I had me job to pick out" said Mr. Dooley,"I'd be a judge. I've looked
over all th' others an that's the on'y wan that suits. I have th' judicyal
timperamint. I hate wurruk." Finley Peter Dunne Observations
by Mr. Dooley: The Law's Delays, 1906.
Have you ever wanted to be a judge? Do you think it might be less
work? Less stress? What is it really like to be a family law judge? Let's
hear from the judges:
HOW DID YOU END UP ON THE FAMILY LAW BENCH?
Los Angeles: I backed into it. I had never had any experience
with family law. As a lawyer, I did principally appellate work, a lot
of criminal appeals, some labor, some eclectic constitutional issues.
I was not at all sorry to leave private practice. I was never thrilled
being a litigator, and I didn't mind leaving all the problems of a small
business behind.
I became a municipal court judge in July, 1980. My assignment was to a
misdemeanor trial court. When I became a superior court judge in February,
1982, I was first assigned to a juvenile court - hearing nothing but delinquency
cases. Then I was introduced to the pleasures of a civil trial department,
law and motions and eventually probate. By then I knew which assignments
I didn't want; family law was unfamiliar, but sounded marginally acceptable.
I took over a family law courtroom in January, 1991, and have been in
family law, by choice, ever since.
San Luis Obispo: I began practicing family law in January,
1963, and then took the family law bench in February, 1976. I did mostly
family law for about six years. I then rotated out of the assignment and
did a mixture of trial work.
It was "my year" to take family law again about four years ago. I was
going to give it a three year shot, which was about how long we thought
it would take to rewrite and implement our family law rules. I enlisted
for another year for 94, and what I do at the end of 94 will depend on
what other judges want to do too.
I enjoyed private practice, and I enjoy being a judge. The family law
portion of my practice was stressful, of course, but I love courtrooms,
and nothing on the civil law side gets you into court as much as family
law. It's theater; I love it.
I miss the sense of winning, but one of the nice things about going on
the bench is not having to explain my losses to my clients: "How could
that crazy son of a bitch have made that ruling?" Now I'm that crazy son
of a bitch.
HOW DO YOU GO ABOUT MAKING A DECISION?
San Luis Obispo: This is the only "un-fun" part. I've now been
a trial judge for over 18 years, and I've developed a basic strategy of
ruling.
I listen pretty attentively. Judges make their living by listening,
and lawyers could probably improve their practices by becoming better
at it.
I make notes. How thorough they are depends on the length and complexity
of the case.
I rule quickly. In most trials, I rule either at the end of evidence
or at the end of argument. I keep a list of all the property on a form
that I have, making my calls as we go along: whether it is community,
separate, who wants it, what she says its worth, what he says its worth.
I always do an oral statement of decision on the record, because
people are entitled to an explanation. I also give them an opportunity
to request a further statement of decision, and then proceed under Code
of Civil Procedure §632. If the attorneys have turned up something that
bothers me, or that I have overlooked, I'll set it for hearing.
I rarely take cases under submission. This is a killer. A bad quick
decision is often better than a slow "just" decision. When I do submit,
it's frequently the attorney fee issue; the attorneys don't have their
declarations filed or we need to give the other side a chance to respond
to something. Every so often there is some complicated legal issue I don't
understand and either need a little briefing on an issue, or some time
to think about it.
When I have a really difficult decision, I wait for a weekend or
holiday, and I'll come down, pick up the file, get out the exhibits, my
trial notes, and the briefs, and start in on it. My subconscious takes
care of a lot of it. Every so often you find yourself hoping, rather
than convinced, you are right.
Judges are the best machines we have for discerning truth. We are trained
and educated in decision-making, and after listening to thousands of witnesses,
we get fooled less and less. But, the system ain't perfect. Every so often
I'll get a bad result.
A good decision is one in which I'm at least able to indicate to
the parties the relevant testimony that persuaded me, the rules I think
are applicable, and where I came down.
Los Angeles: My process is different for a trial, with
testimony, than for a hearing on declarations. During a trial, I stay
out of the evidentiary process -usually - the exception being when
there are two pro pers who are lost. I feel that the decision making process
requires detached observation and evaluation. The luxury of a trial enables
me to do that.
I'm a compulsive note taker. Note taking helps me assimilate the
evidence, as the trial proceeds. When a case has no complicated financial
issues, I will generally have my decision in mind by the time the argument
is over.
I rarely take anything under submission. If I do take a matter
under submission, I'll go back over trial briefs and declarations to refresh
my recollection. I'll review my notes in the areas where there was conflict:
where I had a specific question that was answered by testimony. I'll look
at the exhibits and try to determine how everything fits into the issues
I have to decide. I will set a schedule for briefing and oral argument;
if I get the bottom line from each side, in writing, and I hear relatively
brief oral argument, I am usually able to rule from the bench, after argument.
Of course, if there is a major custody/visitation issue, I will engage
in a great personal struggle, especially in a close-call move-away case.
Time constraints are such that I do everything humanly possible to proceed
by declaration. When I'm proceeding by Reifler, I may do a
lot of my own inquiry, just to satisfy myself that what I have read
is really supported by what I'm seeing and hearing from the parties. I
try to flesh out their written testimony, get a sense of their credibility,
find out things that they didn't put in their declarations. When the declarations
and statements in court are completely at odds, I try to discover enough
to tell me which party has been absolutely untruthful about what is in
the papers.
A Good Decision: Family court is a court of equity. I try to do
a little justice - follow the law - and a fair amount of equity. In child
custody cases, I try to make my decision child oriented rather
than based on the respective parents' "I want's".
In terms of economics, I struggle to be realistic. I try to strike
a balance, considering the law, the needs of the parties and the available
resources. The vast majority of people I see are wage earners who cannot
afford to support two households. There is never enough money to go around,
but the parties have not yet come to terms with that reality; they expect
me to create a solution. When I make an order that is patently inadequate,
and I'm challenged with "Well, what are you going to do to get me some
money?" all I can say is, I've done the best I can. I bite my tongue
and refrain from noting my printing press is broken today.
I often have to remind myself that the decision was correct on the
facts, and so, it was "good", even though it didn't feel terrific.
DO YOU TAKE ON THE PAIN OF THE LITIGANTS?
San Luis Obispo I think the pain of custody cases is overrated.
Most parents are pretty decent people who are in a bad place. Most of
the time now with the mediators they can eventually can work through most
of it. Custody trials usually involve either one person who is irrational
or two who are irrational. It's easy if it's only one. The ones that can
be really tough are those few cases where the two parents are in such
pain they just can't function, and the court has no good choice. Sure,
I take that kind of thing home with me, but this doesn't happen very often.
It's the juvenile court judges who probably suffer the most; they see
the kids who sin or who are sinned against and are daily faced with Hobson's
choice.
I can't agonize about all the decisions. I've got to do my best, make
my call and get on with the next case - but I do worry about some of them.
Los Angeles Occasionally I do take some of their problems
home with me. Sometimes I have a tough case to decide; it hangs around,
and I carry it home. I must confess, some of my most brilliant thoughts
come to me in the shower. But, it's more likely to be the other way around:
I've made a decision...Was it really good? Will it work? What
is going to happen now?
However, you don't have to - should not - immerse yourself in the litigants'
pain in order to make a decision. And I don't. It would be counter-productive.
One of the reasons people are in court is that their feelings have prevented
them from making their own decision.
Does making decisions that affect every aspect of people's lives become
easier over time? Not in terms of the emotions that are always swirling
around. But, for me, becoming a little more knowledgeable has made things
easier.
HOW DO YOU COPE WITH THE DAILY CRISIS?
San Luis Obispo I get a lot of crises; the really nasty
stuff is what I call the atomic bomb of custody: allegations of
sexual abuse. When that goes off, everybody's got to run for cover and
we have to be very careful. So you make orders that will protect a child,
but you may, in fact, have improperly deprived a parent of custody or
visitation, and maybe for a considerable length of time. But who wants
to be the judge who sent the kids off to a molester?
Los Angeles: The worst steady diet of crises is the domestic
calendar. If I had that job, it would be time to retire. We are fortunate
to have a commissioner who hears that calendar.
I still get ex parte applications for restraining orders, a few
at a time, in connection with the various types of family law cases. If
only one side appears, the job is simpler. If the declaration cries out
"Emergency, help!" I'll make the temporary order, and set a hearing.
It's harder when the other party appears, and says "Judge, I just got
these papers, now, in court; it's all lies; I need more time to get a
lawyer". I still have to decide, now, whether to accept the truth
of the moving declarations, and whether, despite the opposition, there's
enough of a basis for emergency relief. If you think it's tough when everyone
has had a reasonable opportunity to present his or her position, imagine
the pressure at ex parte time. My feeling is that when the emergency
involves children, I must err in favor of protecting them. Sometimes that
hurts; sometimes it proves to have been the wrong move. Faced with the
exigency of the moment, however, a judge has no other choice.
WHAT ARE THE MAJOR STRESSORS FOR A FAMILY LAW JUDGE?
Los Angeles It is a busy busy calendar. My morning calendar
call is at 8:30 a.m. I try to get rid of all of those matters that look
cut and dried, make them go outside and try to settle, decide the guideline
support on the undisputed facts, and send the parties on their way. Then
I do my ex partes (I suspect there is an unpublished rule among
lawyers which says that they must all bring their ex partes on
days when my OSC calendars are the longest). After that, I have hearings
on cases which require more time, (and two days a week I squeeze in law
and motions) and I bring back people who have been trying to resolve their
disputes, or have gone to conciliation. I try to reserve afternoons for
trials.
I have to have preparation time as well. I read everything that
has been filed for my calendar. I usually just try to familiarize myself
with everyone's contentions, rather than arrive at a tentative determination
of support, for example. It takes time. There are days when I am at work
until 6:30 or 7:00 at night, especially during those days when I have
a long cause trial relentlessly going on.
This assignment is an enormous amount of work; it's never-ending.
In addition to the daily calendar, there are judgments and orders that
pour in every day - never fewer than half a dozen I have to sign. Then
there are a certain number of cases I have reluctantly taken under submission.
Some require research, and if the attorneys have not done enough for me,
I do it. Not to mention the occasional tentative decision, statements
of decision, the objections, dealing with revisions, etc.
There are the other demands on my time. Even though I don't get
involved in politics, and I don't get involved in organizations that are
likely to have cases or issues before me, I am involved in judicial activities.
I have done a fair amount of teaching at the judicial college and seminars.
I am active on court committees. And, the family law bar is a close knit
group that sponsors many educational programs. The family law judges and
commissioner are very much a part of that. I, along with my colleagues,
speak at bar meetings, lawyer's study groups, the annual county bar family
law symposium, the annual child custody colloquium, and so on, and on,
and on. There are times when I feel as if I haven't got a moment in which
to breathe.
San Luis Obispo Judges deal with stress all the time in
the courtroom and family law has a lot of stress added. I didn't get the
parties into the spot they are in, but I can help them out, give them
some attention, make my call and go on.
Managing the case load is difficult. The case is estimated for
four hours and now its eight, they're still going and they're not wasting
time - but I can't finish, and cases are lined up in back of them.
Good lawyers in my courtroom make things go so well, they make my job
a pleasure.
WHAT DO YOU DO TO ALLEVIATE STRESS?
San Luis Obispo Stress is part of a judge's life...and it
ought to be. I don't know how you can avoid it. We are often asked to
act on insufficient evidence, where the law is murky, and you just do
the best job you can.
Take breaks. Just a couple of weeks ago I went off for five days
hiking and fishing in the Eastern Sierra. Get out of it for
awhile; there are things you can do other than family law. But then
again, don't expect that the other areas will be stress free.
I love the law. I'm pretty good at it. That keeps me sane. When
you know something pretty well, usually you feel good about doing it,
whether you are a judge or making automobiles.
Los Angeles Going home is a great relief from the stress.
I get to see my husband (forty almost-six years, the same husband, no
tacking!) I get to catch up on the local gossip and pass along mine. I
can play with the dog, and pretend I'm going to get back into obedience
work. Maybe I'll hear from the grandchildren. I've got so many interests,
it's almost stressful to relieve the stress. I grow many of my own vegetables,
bake my own bread, and cook up a storm from time to time. My "trade mark"
is flowers on the bench. I bring them every Monday morning, freshly cut
from my garden.
At work I reduce the stress by using all the help I can get. I rely on
our fabulous clerk to make my work flow smoothly. The attorneys
are very, very, helpful. We have a volunteer attorney available in
the courthouse every day to act as mediator, mostly on financial issues.
This is especially useful when I am dealing with pro pers.
Our conciliators are terrific. Even if they are not able to help
the parties arrive at a parenting agreement, the process softens people's
positions, such that by the time the litigants come into the courtroom
the level of animosity has often been reduced, and the problem is that
they have forgotten what the problem is. Then, I can easily help them
arrive at a plan.
I use evaluations for those knotty cases which would otherwise
give me severe stress. An evaluator has expertise which I don't have,
and has more time to get to know parties, the children, the extended family,
and the households.
Sometimes I talk with a child. I'll only do this if everyone stipulates
that I can do it alone, off the record, informally and confidentially,
if that is what the child wants. Sometimes a child will tell me things
he or she didn't want anyone to know, if the child is assured the conversation
is confidential, and that the bottom line decision will be mine: that
he or she is not responsible for the decision. In some situations it relieves
my stress when I can make a decision after I've had a meeting with the
voiceless child whose life I'm going to affect.
Collegiality in the family law bench, and rapport with the attorneys
is also a stress reliever. It's good to be able to get together with groups:
lawyers, judges, kick ideas around: how do you feel about this piece
of legislation, what are we going to do about this particular procedure
or rule? Even if the judges ultimately decide on a particular procedure,
the input is useful. And, if the family law bar is involved, the family
law bar is more cooperative in effectuating the course taken by the court,
and my job is less stressful.
For a real break, I travel; short trips to see the grandchildren;
mini-vacations up and down the state, often in connection with bar or
judicial functions, and genuine vacations to anyplace in the world where
I can walk (not hike), be outdoors (provided there is indoor plumbing),
explore different cultures and escape from the phones, decision making
and the pressures of life in the big city.
WHY ARE YOU DOING FAMILY LAW?
Los Angeles It's a living, right?
Family law has its great days and it has its awful days. Why I am doing
it depends on the day you ask the question - great or awful.
Seriously, it's very important work. We, here in family law, deal with
as much money as the biggest cases that are tried upstairs; the issues
we deal with are more profound; affect every detail of people's lives.
Of course we get the least recognition, are permitted the least amount
of time in which to do the job, and get the least amount of help in terms
of staffing. Either I'm a glutton for punishment, or I am here because
I get satisfaction being "hands on" involved in the lives of the people
who come to family court. And, I like to think I am doing some good.
San Luis Obispo I love to come to work. I get to be in the
courtroom most of every day. I like the theater of it. People will come
in and tell me things that if they happened to me I would keep them secret
- I wouldn't tell anybody. I'm a confessional. This is forensic voyeurism.
It's wonderful. I've been doing this 30 years. Every week something comes
in and I think oh really? I've never heard this one before.
I know many judges hate it because they have to make tough calls, but
I really like family law. The truth of the matter is that I give away
more money every week than they do in any other department including probate.
I'm handling big money. I'm taking their paycheck and telling them where
it goes, I tell them when they can and can't see their children. Now that's
real power...
|
