THE ROBING ROOM

Judge Sharpe is the living embodiment of everything that is wrong with the judicial appointments put forward by George W. Bush. He is both lazy and dumb, and he takes great pleasure in imposing his own brand of right-wing 'justice' upon those who enter his courtroom. His decisions frequently make no sense, are unresearched and ignore the factual record provided to the Court. Consequently, they are frequently reversed. Once a case is remanded, Judge Sharpe will then blame the prevailing lawyer for 'failing to bring relevant authority to his attention,' the functional equivalent of the teacher blaming the student when they don't know what they are doing. Simple cases languish forever awaiting a poorly drafted written decision. He also begrudges lawyers who appear before him from earning a good living, and will poleax them on attorneys' fees, all the while taking great pleasure in it. He is a nice guy in person (sort of like John Roberts), and is good about scheduling, but the bad far, far outweighs the good. If you represent defendants in civil litigation and see GLS on your scheduling notice, be joyful. If you represent plaintiffs and see those initials, you ought to consider withdrawing from the case, because you have just checked yourself into the latest heartbreak suite at the Heartbreak Hotel that is the Northern District of New York. At a minimum, make sure you have a good record for the inevitable appeal from summary judgment.