THE ROBING ROOM

An outstanding trial judge, excellent scholar and fine human being. If we are all lucky he will go to the 4th Circuit. I have tried long and complex civil cases with him and have litigated numerous hotly contested pre-trial and discovery motions. He is consistently excellent in all phases. He knows the law sometimes better than the lawyers and refuses to let things become uncivil. I do not agree with many of his political views and don't always like his decisions, but he is even handed and sticks to the law. I always feel that I have gotten a fair hearing. I have won close questions that I expected to lose and have lost close questions that I expected to win. Usually he rules the way prepared and informed attorneys would expect. All of this tells me that he consistently gets it right.