Now here is something that should appeal to the courtroom naysayers, the sour-faced jury no-wannabes, and the tort reformers: a federal judge in Wichita, Kansas, granted a request to postpone the start of a civil trial because one of the lawyers is expecting to be a first-time father.
Writing in the NYTimes, John Schwartz captures the story of Judge Eric F. Melgren, who recently granted a continuance of a civil trial to allow for one of the (defense) counsel to attend the birth of his first child back home in Dallas, Texas.
The plaintiffs, "in a move that now seems curmudgeonly, opposed the request." And we wonder why John Q. Public ranks lawyers where it does - way way way down the line.
Drawing on Shakespeare and others, Judge Melgren chastised counsel "on proper comportment of legal adversaries,...." Here's the best part:
"Judge Melgren sounded a note of humility unusual in much of the federal bar, stating: 'Certainly this judge is convinced of the importance of federal court, but he has always tried not to confuse what he does with who he is, nor to distort the priorities of his day job with his life’s role. Counsel are encouraged to order their priorities similarly.'"
Who knows? Maybe that little baby will grow up to pound a gavel of her own.
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