THE ROBING ROOM

Litigating in front of Judge Sprizzo is a bit hair-raising. He is smart and independent-minded. But he is also arrogant, short-tempered, erratic, and frequently abusive. Examples: Judge Sprizzo is invariably late taking the bench, often making a room full of high-priced lawyers cool their heels for 30 or 45 minutes,or even longer, before he appears -- apparently insensible to what his conduct costs their clients. Once he calls a motion, Judge Sprizzo tends to make up his mind about it almost immediately -- often before he has heard more than a couple of sentences from the first lawyer to speak. His comments often reveal that he hasn't read the briefs either (or hasn't read beyond the introductions). Nonetheless, after he has made up his mind it is almost impossible to sway him. In fact, he seems to delight in ridiculing the unfortunate lawyers he has consigned to the losing side. Not only does he do this at motion arguments; he does it at pre-motion conferences as well. At such conferences, he is perfectly capable of deciding a motion before it has even been made, much less briefed. From time to time, Judge Sprizzo takes a vehement dislike to one lawyer or another for seemingly trivial reasons --a badly-phrased argument, for example, or a minor breach in courtroom etiquette. In such instances he enjoys verbally abusing his victim, in full view of the gallery, seemingly for sport. This typically happens to young, inexperienced lawyers, though I have seen more experienced practitioners trigger an attack of foul temper as well. Judge Sprizzo has the intellect, as well as the intellectual independence, to be a fine judge. Unfortunately, his temperament (no doubt worsened by his many years on the bench with no real performance reviews) makes him the kind of judge that most practitioners would rather avoid.