Being a judge is sometimes like raising children: litigants get the time they need, not necessarily the time they want, and you have to earn people's respect by communicating to them that you're going to listen, follow the law and make a fair decision.
As you get older, you tend to be a little less patient with people - people who are not prepared, people who have unrealistic expectations, people who make unrealistic demands, people who think they're more special than other people.
By definition, half the people leaving the courtroom are unhappy. Any good judge can make more than half the people unhappy. The job is not to make people like you or make people think you're their friend.
You have to be patient. Litigants are emotionally involved - they're suing or being sued, or they've been in an accident or they're charged (with a crime). They are not very objective about their situation.
You really don't want to go to court and have the judge decide based on whether or not they're your friend, because you don't want to be thinking that the (judge's) friend is on the other side (of the court case).
When I was in court I was the judge; when I was out of court I wasn't. Most people didn't address me as judge when I was in public.
One of the more difficult things about being a judge is as you're listening to the evidence, you have to be formulating how you're going to explain your evaluation of that evidence.
I have tried to make sure I knew the law and what the most recent changes were, and I've applied the law to the facts. I have not lost sleep over the decisions I have made.
I sleep well. In my entire legal career, I have not lost much sleep at night worrying about things, because I've done what I could do in the time I had, and I've got some rest.
I have told somebody in court that 'I understand yours is the most important case in the world, and I'm trying to treat it as the most important case in the world, but five minutes from now I'm going to be dealing with the next person's most important case in the world.' For every litigant, theirs is the most important case.
You want a judge who makes objective decisions, and that's why temperament is such an important component of being a judge. You have to earn people's respect, because they know that you are deciding the case based on the facts and the law, not because they're trying to be your friend.
I will miss the contact with the people - the privilege of trying to communicate to people every day that the court system is going to work for them the way it's supposed to work. That doesn't guarantee they're going to get the result they want, but the court is going to listen and follow the law and try to make a fair decision. That is an awesome privilege and responsibility I will miss.
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Alan Ayckbourn Playwright
