#UnpopularOpinion I don't like seeing "retired" judges enter the private sector. I think a judicial appointment should be the last stop on a legal career train, not a way station. law.com/legaltechnews/… 1/5
When you become a judge, you take on the gravitas and authority of the role, and it stays with you even after you step down. So if you want to stop being a judge, great; but the gravitas is permanent and it should be deployed carefully and primarily for the public good.
I'm fine with ex-judges leading commissions of inquiry or law reform efforts or other public-service roles; that's consistent with the mantle they assumed. But I don't like seeing them working for law firms or legal funding startups. The word I keep coming back to is "unseemly."
I get that more lawyers (especially women) are appointed to the bench earlier than before; you could serve 20+ years on the bench and still be in your early 60s with much to contribute. But if you miss the income you could have earned as a lawyer, well, that was part of the deal.
I don't want to overstate the issue; of course we have bigger worries. I'm just concerned that a wave of former judges joining the legal market, bringing in clients and burnishing brands, risks diluting the gravitas of judges still serving and the courts they serve. /Fin
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