We often hear, “Justice is Blind.” The saying refers to the way judges and juries are required to make decisions based only on the information presented to them, rather than on personal experiences, or who they like most.

This expression also means that justice is impartial and objective, and often accompanying this statement is an image of the Greek statue for justice, wearing a blindfold so as not to treat friends differently from strangers, or wealthy people better than the poor.

“Judges aren’t computers into which you pour data and out pops a decision,” observes retired California Superior Court Judge Anthony J. Mohr, author of “Every Other Weekend – Coming of Age with Two Different Dads,” coming Feb. 14.

“Justice is delivered by people whose entire lives impact the way they see the world,” he underscores, adding, “Justice isn’t completely blind, it is human. And, wouldn’t it be helpful to have insight into those aspects of the judge who will be trying your case?

That question leads us to another: What are the factors that go into making a good jurist? What hints should lead a lawyer to disqualify a judge?”

Judge Mohr then set out a by-the-numbers list of what lawyers and clients should do before they step into the courtroom – how to learn as much as possible about that person who could have a major impact on your business, and on your life:

(1) Research the judge to discover their negative aspects.

Google is your best friend. Plug in their name and this should bring up articles written about or by them. Be wary of angry of lawyers who lost. They will say nasty things about the judge because they lost even though they should have lost!

(2) Ask around – your friends who might have appeared before the judge or other lawyers for their opinion.

Call the Bar Association and asks if the judge has a reputation for a good judicial temperament. Is the judge considered to be intelligent? Is the judge lazy and doesn’t keep up with news events?

(3) Does the judge have a bias and a reputation for ruling in favor of one side over the other on a consistent basis?

Does the judge dislike women? Latinos, people of color?

(3) Go on Lexus-Nexus or Westlaw to research written opinions and rulings by the judge. Read them. Do they make sense? Is the writing snarky? Does the judge belittle the parties without apparent justification? Do the cases stand for what the judge claims they do?

The Central Pillars of Being a Judge

Mohr was quick to point out that in California and many other states, the Judicial Council articulates those qualities that a good judge must possess. In California, they are known as the Eight Pillars of Being a Judge.

(1) Being mindful of who you are – that you are a judge.

You are a judge wherever you are 24/7. This means that your behavior must be respectful at all times. Mohr puts it this way, “You can’t walk into a restaurant and say, ‘Give me my table now I’m a judge!’”

(2) Exercise mindfulness in the courtroom and pay attention!

You need to be aware at all times what is happening in the courtroom. Is a lawyer signaling a witness with hand gestures? Are spectators acting up?

“You must address these issues immediately. For example, when I’ve suspected that a juror has fallen asleep, I will drop a book to make noise which usually wakes them up without embarrassment.”

(3) Follow the law. Don’t make up the rules as you go along.

If you are in doubt about what the statute says, open up the appropriate book which should be within arm’s reach and look it up! Don’t assume when you have reason to be unsure.

(4) Be aware of your biases or prejudices which we all have to some extent.

Keep an open mind and never hesitate to disqualify yourself if you know deep down that you just can’t be fair in the case before you.

For example, in criminal case, do not allow the defendant’s appearance to influence your rulings.

(5) Do not get involved in the case.

Do not take things personally. Your only job is to administer justice fairly. So, if you don’t like a particular lawyer or party, stop yourself from acting in an unfair manner. Do not aim for a particular result!

(6) Realize that part of your job is to maintain the public’s belief and trust in the legal system. You’ve got to be polite to all parties and as patient as possible.

(7) Courage!

If the correct decision in the case you are handling will make you unpopular, still, you have a legal and moral duty to make that decision.

As an example, several years ago in a desegregation case, a Los Angeles judge ordered busing to desegregate the city’s schools. This was an important step in furthering civil rights, resulting in the judge being challenged in an election and losing.

But he did the right thing. Our system of justice depends on judges having the courage to do the right things and not succumb to political pressure.

(8) Accept the fact that you will make mistakes and be overruled, your decisions reversed.

But you have to go along with the higher court’s decision.

Exquisitely Aware of Suffering

I could not put judge Mohr’s book down. (I received an advanced copy). It conveys the feelings of someone who has been witness to highly unique emotional experiences that made him exquisitely aware of suffering, unfairness and a desire as a jurist to handle them head-on.

Judge’s Mohr memoir should be required reading of every law student taking a course in Family Law. It provides a unique insight into those factors that have shaped a jurist’s view of the world and why healthy and stable family life is so critical to that adult who, years down the road will put on a black robe and be addressed as “Your Honor.”

Dennis Beaver practices law in Bakersfield and enjoys hearing from his readers. Contact Dennis Beaver.

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My paralegal, Anne, buzzed me: “You have Mike on the line who just got fired from his job as an auto mechanic and adamantly claims that he did nothing wrong. He is very upset.”

– Put him through.

“So, Mike, what happened?”

“Well, Mr. Beaver, my boss was sued in small claims court by a customer who claimed that our repairs were inadequate and took her car to another shop. I worked on the vehicle but was never allowed to testify and the judge found for the customer. Then I was fired.”

He insisted that was the entire story, but I had serious doubts. I recorded his verbal authorization to discuss this with Ron, the employer, phoned and at once heard, “My gosh, Dennis! I read you in Kiplinger every week and just love your column! How can I help?”

“Mike claims that he was fired because you lost in small claims court. Very often lawyers are only told a fraction of what really happened, so can you fill me in on the rest and may I join him in on this call?”

Ron agreed.

Telling the Truth Slowly

A friend of this column, Southern California labor law attorney Jay Rosenlieb, has a phrase to describe what I was about to hear: “Telling the Truth Slowly.”

Our conversation went like this:

Me: I understand Mike was terminated only because Ron lost in court. Is there any other possible reason, because that doesn’t seem very fair?

Ron: Mike failed to tell you that he was ejected from the courthouse because of his extreme body odor. He is a brilliant technician, but his personal hygiene is non-existent, and it is so bad that we put him in a small shop away from the other mechanics and the public.

I told him that he had to clean himself up for court, and if he did not, and his body odor resulted in the court refusing to allow him to testify, he would be out of a job.

Me: Is that true, Mike?

Mike: Well, yeah, it’s not my religion or because I have some illness that causes bad body odor, I just don’t care much about bathing, but… . (Mumbling something.)

Me: Is that true, Mike? Were you warned and still came to court that way?

Mike: “Yeah, I’m sorry. I didn’t tell you the entire story, Mr. Beaver. I was afraid that you would hang up on me if I did. All the other lawyers I spoke to did hang up on me.

Me: I haven’t hung up on you yet, have I? Ron tells me that you are a brilliant technician.

Now, he and I have never spoken before, and so I am going to make a suggestion that he might or might not accept, and it requires your buy-in.

If the shop has medical insurance that includes mental health counseling, Ron will arrange for you to see a counselor as soon as possible, and you will shower, shampoo and wear clean clothing to work every day starting immediately.

It is not normal to run around smelling like the county dump, and unless you have some health reason or are protected by the ADA, an employer is not required to keep an employee whose very presence interferes with their business.

So, it is your decision if Ron agrees. Ron?

Ron: I agree and we do have great medical insurance that has mental health coverage.

Mike: I also agree and will come to work tomorrow like you said, Mr. Beaver.

How to Handle these Issues

Attorney Rosenlieb outlined the steps an employer should take:

(1) With this issue – bad body odor – as with most other issues, go through the front door.

This means sitting down in private with the employee, and saying, “I need to discuss an issue with you that is personal in nature, likely uncomfortable to discuss, but we need to talk about it candidly, and that is your body odor. Is there anything that we can do, as this is interfering with work performance of other employees?

(2) If there is no evidence of an ADA issue or something similar, an employer has the right to expect its employees to be presentable in public and to comply with the employer’s established grooming standards, or reasonable grooming standards. A refusal justifies termination.

Smelling like the cosmetics counter at Macy’s

(3) Closely related to offensive odors is the employee who walks into the room and smells like the cosmetics counter at Macy’s.

It’s the same thing. Go through the front door, and say, “several of us have noted that you seem to be a bit heavy on the perfume and cologne. To promote a productive workplace and consider co-workers and our customers who might be bothered by or allergic to these strong scents, we need you to greatly reduce the amount of what you are using.”

Update on Mike and Ron

Several days later, Ron called:

“Dennis, Mike kept his word, returning to work the next day clean as could be. In fact, he was dropped off by his fiancée who told me to thank you. She had almost called off their wedding, but our three-way chat and getting into counseling finally woke him up. They want you to attend their wedding!”

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If you are headed to court as a witness or a party in a lawsuit, there are a lot of ways you can do real damage to your chances of success, several of which are common sense, but others you don’t want to learn the hard way.

Who better then to speak with for practical advice than Anthony J. Mohr, a Superior Court judge who is a friend of this column and spent over 20 years on the bench in Los Angeles and recently retired.

I also ran one important issue by California State University, Bakersfield, professor of psychology Luis Vega, whose academic focus is persuasion.

I asked, “What are some of the things that will reduce or harm your chances of success, the things not to do?

(1) Fail to dress appropriately and think “Well, it’s a free country and I should be able to wear anything I want.”

Consequences: “Judges are usually conservative and they will relate better to people who are conservatively dressed than a person full of tattoos, piercings and wild clothing. This is reality. Your appearance matters,” Judge Mohr stressed.

“Regardless of your appearance, we will listen to you, and try to be fair, but you will relate better if you dress in a conservative, modest way. There are studies that prove a witness who fails to dress in an appropriate manner for court harms their credibility.”

Remember Head & Shoulders shampoo ads?

Vega had a take on appearance that was a walk back in time to old television commercials.

“The Head & Shoulders commercial, that ‘the first impression is the last impression,’ needs to be heeded in the settings where we seek a positive outcome for ourselves. And don’t rely on luck. You may only get one chance,” he said.

“So, when going to court, dress like you are applying for an office job. For men, tuck in your shirt and for women, forget the high heels or short skirts. Leave your jewelry at home,” he recommends.

(2) Fail to answer the question. Instead, give a rambling history of all the events leading up to your being in court today.

Consequences: “You will upset the entire courtroom. The jury won’t appreciate this one iota as you are wasting their time.

“So, answer the question. If you need to clarify the context, do so after you respond, and ask the judge or the attorney, “May I please explain?” Generally, you will be allowed if you have answered the question.”

“A good example of rambling and not answering the question can be seen on the Judge Judy television show,” Mohr observes. “This frustrates her to no end and while she may be more transparent in her voicing displeasure, judges and attorneys do not appreciate a witness who gives them a history lesson of their case.”

(3) Lie. Believe that you are the smartest person in the courtroom and twist the facts, certain that no one will ever know.

Consequences: “Knowingly lying in court about a material fact is perjury and carries a possible 5-year prison sentence in most jurisdictions. Never think that you can pull one over on the lawyers or the court, as they have all read the pleadings, declarations, and have a good idea of the facts.

“Juries are told that if they find a witness has testified falsely about one thing, they can, if they choose, disregard all of that witness’ testimony as being unreliable and not credible.

“So, it isn’t worth it.”

(4) Show up late. After all, the judge has lots of other cases that can be heard if you aren’t on time, so no one is harmed.

Consequences: “Court etiquette requires that you show up on time. Nothing shows disrespect more easily than coming into the courtroom late.

Courts – especially family courts – have massive calendars. To function smoothly, parties and their witnesses must be present on time or before. A guaranteed way to lose respect of the judge and courtroom personnel, and even your own lawyer, is to be late to your court date.

“If you will be out of town, let your lawyer or the court clerk know well in advance of the court date. If you were representing yourself and can’t make it on the scheduled date or time, consider hiring a lawyer for the purpose of making the appearance on your behalf.

“Finally, if you do none of those things and just don’t show up, you will probably bed charged criminally with a failure to appear.

(5) Interrupt anyone who is saying things that you disagree with, including the Judge. Don’t let them get away with damaging your case or reputation!

Consequences: “By interrupting the judge, magistrate or anyone that’s talking, you could be held in contempt, fined and even do time in jail! You’ve got to be polite to everyone in the courthouse.

You must wait until it’s your turn.”

Concluding our chat, Judge Mohr said with a broad smile, “And remember, you catch a lot more flies with honey than vinegar”

And for real-life examples of how a judge can react when these rules are not respected, I recommend watching reruns of the court TV show Judge Judy, starring Judge Judy Sheindlin, or watch her new series, Judy Justice.

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“We hired a law firm that handles a wide variety of legal matters and advertises heavily in our area, to deal with:

(1) A former employee who violated our non-compete clause, opened his own shop, and solicited our customers. The lawyers said they could shut him down in less than three months.

(2) Terri, my wife, was in an auto accident caused by the other driver but their insurance company denied liability. Our attorney said, “We will have a very good settlement within six months of filing suit.”

“It has now been over two years and it is one delay after another for both cases.

Had we known what to expect, we would have not pursued these matters. But the lawyers gave us little information. Is this a common or rare situation to be in? What can we do? We are getting bills for all kinds of ‘costs’ and are in the dark. Thanks, “Frank.”

No Idea what they are Jumping Into

I ran Frank’s question by two friends of this column, Southern California attorneys Shawn Steel and Alexander C. Eisner.

“This is one of the most common complaints from clients who find themselves in a lawsuit. They have no idea what they are jumping into,” observes Steel.

Eisner adds, “It’s hurry up and wait – sometimes for years, as suddenly we have a deposition, mandatory court appearances, discovery, interrogatories, and the stress can be enormous. Also, clients are often in the dark about the difference between attorney fees, costs and what they are responsible for, win or lose.

Both lawyers listed aspects of litigation that are often confusing to clients:

(1) Vetting of cases: Is this a good case?

Often “Billboard Lawyers,” and the TV advertising law firms who boast about the millions of dollars they have gotten for clients, fail to properly vet the case – not establishing liability, but send the client for expensive physical therapy, MRIs, running up huge bills and have the client sign a lien to pay the bills.

Later, the law firm discovers that the case fell apart: The client is left holding the bag, responsible for significant expenses.

(2) Lawyers who take any case where the client has auto med pay. They do not care about liability, commit theft by keeping the med pay, closing the case and saying, “Sorry, it was a bad case.”

Here’s how this happens:

Medical payments coverage should be paid by the insurance company to the health care provider.

The doctor has the patient/client sign an assignment of benefits and the lawyer does as well; often the insurance company makes their check payable to the lawyer who keeps the money. The client is on the hook for the bills, and has been a victim of the lawyer’s theft.

To prevent this from happening, verify that the doctor is being paid.

(3) Failure to explain how settlement value is determined if you do not have the recommended care/treatment.

Often a physician recommends surgery that would greatly increase the value of the claim.

However, the lawyer fails to tell the client that unless they actually have the operation and incur the expense, their settlement will not include it as a measure of damages and therefore will be far lower than it otherwise would be.

(4) Clients who believe they can “keep the medical payments open” for treatment later on after settling a case.

Unlike injuries covered by workers compensation, settlements and awards in personal injury claims cannot be “left open” for payment of future medical expenses. When a personal injury case is settled, it is settled and you can’t come back to the well for more money.

(5) Being billed as a separate cost for attorney services that are part of the lawyer’s obligation in the contingency fee agreement.

“This includes unethical billing for things as costs that are already included in what the lawyer is required to do as part of the job of representing the client – trying to obtain additional compensation for work already performed, and covered by the lawyer’s contingency fee agreement in a personal injury cases, such as:

– A “sign up” fee for having the client sign their contract!

– Charging to help get the car fixed – taking one third of repair costs!

– Billing for long-distance phone calls when there are no such charges.

– A set-up fee for setting up the file. A storage fee for retaining the client’s file, when that is required of the lawyer by bar rules.

(6) Failing to discuss litigation costs – not attorney fees, but costs:

In general, the client is responsible for these costs and should be advised to weigh the relative worth – and expense – of moving to litigation or accepting a settlement offer less than they want but which will possibly save them money in the long run:

– Filing and service of a lawsuit – around $1,000.

– Hiring a private investigator and experts, depositions –potentially tens of thousands of dollars.

(7) Failing to address the destructive, emotional issues of litigation:

“It can be emotionally taxing because it does not move quickly – the process can take years. It weighs on you – it is heavy!” notes Eisner, adding, “It is our day-to-day life, but can be agonizing for clients. A caring lawyer will have this discussion.”

And my recommendation? Think of a courthouse as you would a hospital. If you can stay out of both, you’ll have a much happier life.

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