April 2025 Bench and Bar Newsletter

By Justice Michael B. Hyman

The law’s got plenty of Latin—those fancy maxims and phrases that make lawyers sound like they’re casting spells instead of arguing cases. Roman law seems baked into our legal system, too. But there’s a kicker: Ancient Greece deserves as much credit, maybe more. Its form of democracy set in motion Ancient Rome’s and our own. Political ideas, philosophical musings, and legal principles that form the backbone of Western jurisprudence all trace back to Ancient Greece. The only reason we don’t notice? Latin is more visible in English.

By Judge James A. Shapiro & Thomas DeMouy

Few things are more annoying to a judge than when we can't see the litigant or lawyer we are addressing (or who is addressing us). I once heard a judge describe it on Zoom as the equivalent of "hiding under the benches in court." During the height of the pandemic, there were judges who were not turning on their video as well. Without naming names, my former presiding judge once had to remind everyone in the division to turn on their videos. To a self-represented litigant–much less a lawyer–it must be like addressing the Great Oz in The Wizard of Oz: "Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain!" Pay no attention to that judge on the blank screen. It was inexcusable and unacceptable.

By Michael Cortina

The practice of law is a business. It matters not if a lawyer is on the bench, works in the public interest sector, is an in-house attorney, or is engaged in private practice. All of us make our living in the practice of law, and that means, by default, all of us are also engaged in the business of law. We sometimes need reminding, however, of the other obligations that we have to society.

By Judge Maureen Schuette

Judge Schuette provides insight and guidance from her days as a Guardian Ad Litem.