A tribute to Hon. George Bundy Smith: colleague, teacher, and friend.

• Author: Kaye, Judith S.
• Position: New York Court of Appeals' Senior Associate Judge - Testimonial

Writing for this journal of Fordham Law School, where Judge Smith is celebrated not only as a great jurist but also as a great teacher, I feel the need to begin with a confession. I have been keeping this a secret for a long, long time and I need finally to fess up. It's good for the soul.

For many years--when Judge Smith carried the additional burden of serving as Senior Associate Judge on the Court of Appeals, right-hand man to the Chief Judge--again and again I strenuously urged him to give up his teaching responsibilities here at the Law School, which at a minimum during Court Sessions required him to travel down from Albany on Monday afternoons and then, after class, back up to Albany. He often arrived back in the dead of night.

As he now marks his 25th straight year on the Fordham faculty, you know how stunningly successful I was.

While licking my wounds, I have often reflected on how characteristic that was of Judge Smith. And I have isolated three themes from that experience that in my mind typify my former Colleague and forever friend George Bundy Smith.

No DUTY IGNORED

First, despite the added time demands of teaching, the fact is George Smith never flagged in a single responsibility of the Senior Associate Judge--whether being liaison with or heading up Committees, or attending innumerable meetings, or simply being on hand to consult with me. Indeed, he never flagged in any of his responsibilities, however impossible the demands.

He is a prodigious, productive worker. Even at the Court of Appeals, where the competition is stiff, George Smith's working hours were legendary. We all grew accustomed to finding faxes and e-mails he had transmitted to us in the wee hours of the morning. His wife, Dr. Alene Smith, never remembers him without an armload of briefs and other delightful reading material, even when attending weddings, graduations, and family picnics. What fun!

Having had the privilege of sitting right next to Judge Smith on the bench for several years I can tell you that he was always consummately prepared on the briefs and on the record. He was meticulous beyond description, often questioning counsel on fine points in the record. His brilliant mind and his unstinting effort always to reach the just result, and then to express it precisely, clearly, and convincingly are reflected in his extraordinary contribution to the law of the state and nation, in hundreds of writings for the Court of Appeals.

Happily, his passion for...