Kentucky Lawyer

Attributes of the Kentucky lawyer

9 Kentucky Lawyer Attributes of the Kentucky lawyer Kentucky may be said to be divided into five main regions : the Mountains, the Blue Grass, the Bear Grass, the “Pennyrile,” and the Purchase. There are, of course, colloquialisms in these respective sections which might be said to be marks of identification; but the line of demarcation is so fine that it hardly warrants comment. My years of travel in all parts of the state in conducting the business of the federal courts have given me an opportunity to become acquainted with Kentucky lawyers at first hand. I have had probably a better opportunity to know and observe them than most any other person. There are ecellent lawyers, good lawyers, mediocre and poor lawyers in all of the regions; but there are two outstanding characteristics which belong to all the lawyers of the state: Kentucky lawyers are, as a class, men of honor and integrity ; they are also very resourceful. In my years on the bench I have never once had a show of discourtesy or disrespect. I fully realize that this is not because of me personally but because of the high office which I am privileged to hold. The office receives this respect, and justly so, because of the character and ability of the men who have preceded me in the office. It is due to them and their learning, erudition and fairness, that the bar accepts me on the terms which my predecessors have established. I am constantly aware of this, and my only fear is that in some careless moment I may say or do something, either on or off the bench, that could bring the slightest disrespect to the office which has stood so high in Kentucky jurisprudence for so long All too frequently judges, in the security of their po- 10 Mac Swinford sition, forget the problems and deep emotions of the attorneys who are practicing before them. There have been instances, I know, in which the judge seems to feel that the bench is a stage from which he, as chief actor in the drama of the trial, must perform as a wit or a tyrant. There have been judges who have become obsessed with a desire to be “characters” and have indulged in witticisms or abuses that are fitting neither the dignity of the office nor the stature of the personality that temporarily occupies it. The story is told of an occasion in the trial of an important lawsuit when the judge in a fit of anger, sharply and without ecuse, severely rebuked one of the attorneys . The lawyer then turned his back on the court and walked toward the door of the courtroom. The judge called out, “Sir, are you trying to show your contempt for the court?” “No, Your Honor, I’m trying to conceal it,” was the reply. An “overspeaking” judge Sir Francis Bacon in his essay on the judiciary said: “An overspeaking judge is no well-tuned cymbal.” Those of our profession who occupy the bench should be constantly aware of this striking metaphor. It is very tempting at times for a judge to make witty or sarcastic remarks to the delight of the spectators; however, a judge should always remember that such speech is beneath the dignity of the court and always at the epense of someone who cannot answer back. The situation is something like that of a boer who hits a handcuffed opponent. Repartee can ...