From the Bench

• Citation: Vol. 38 No. 4 Pg. 12
• Publication year: 2015
• Pages: 12
• Year: 2015
• topic: Business of Law

From the Bench Vol. 38 No. 4 Pg. 12 Wyoming Bar Journal August, 2015

Hon. Robert B. Denhardt Circuit Court Judge Ninth Judicial District.

Musings of a Judge with 30+ Years Under/Over His Belt

When I was an attorney, I feared judges. When I became a judge, I feared lawyers- kind of an odd turn-around. What I came to realize was that we, lawyers and judges, are governed by the same rules and laws and we both are required to follow them. As a lawyer, what makes the relationship more difficult is that we are not on equal footing because of the power differential-the power of the judge and the way that power is exercised is the difference. Some judges hold that power in the wrong hand and others are even-handed. Lawyers must recognize that dynamic and perform accordingly (i.e. always be prepared and thorough).

When I was appointed to the bench, a friend of mine who is a judge in California sent me these words: “Four Tings Belong To a Judge: to hear courteously, to answer wisely, to consider soberly and to decide impartially.” If judges followed those tenets set forth by Socrates some 2,400 years ago, life in the courtroom would not be so difficult. I do fairly well with three of them; it is the “wisely” part that I probably struggle with the most.

I was one of those lawyers who thought I would like to be a judge. Judges seemed to be respected by the public while lawyers were not. I had practiced before district judges and...