NCFTJ Chair Message: Celebrate!

Celebrating the Federal trial bench.  That is our theme for this bar year, and as we reach the midpoint of the year, it’s evident that it could not be more appropriate.  Federal trial judges are busy, with cases across the spectrum from those that grab the headlines with national and even international consequence to those that have great consequence for the parties, even if they are not noted in the press – because as federal trial judges, we know that there are no unimportant cases.  Many of our colleagues have shared their judicial origin stories and tips about how to have a good day in their courtroom in BenchTalk podcasts, a joint project of the National Conference of Federal Trial Judges and the ABA Business Law Section.

And at the ABA Midyear Meeting in Phoenix, federal trial judges, law student participants in the ABA’s Judicial Clerkship Program, and the Phoenix legal community celebrated together at the spectacular Sandra Day O’Connor United States Courthouse to honor our colleagues US District Judge G. Murray Snow, US Bankruptcy Judge Daniel Collins, and US Magistrate Judge Jacqueline Rateau.  We also spoke about our own pathways to the bench and shared stories (and lunch) with law students at Arizona State University’s Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law.

So, what are we celebrating, anyway?  And why?  That question has been on my mind as stories about the challenging times faced by many courts and communities have been nearly a daily event in the press.  Two stories help me put that question in context. 

Here is the first story.  About ten years ago, I hosted a kindergarten class from a neighborhood school for a morning at our courthouse.  We toured the beautiful corridors in our historically restored courthouse, explored the different spaces in my large courtroom, and then I took the bench in my robe to answer their questions.  Of course, one of the first questions that they asked was did I use a hammer on the bench.  Why is the gavel so fascinating?  I responded – honestly – that I don’t use one because, actually, when did banging anything help in a difficult situation?  Would their teacher do that?  The courtroom full of five-year-olds giggled.

But the next question was new for me.  One of the most active students in the group asked, “is your job hard?”  And I answered immediately – “yes, and that’s one of the best things about it.”  I have thought a lot about that question and answer over the years, including in recent months.  Oh my goodness, our jobs are hard.  Sometimes, they are achingly hard.  We can share a good bit of that difficulty with our chambers teams, including our courtroom deputies and law clerks, and without them, our jobs might be too hard.  We can also share the challenges that come with the role in friendships with our judicial colleagues, down the hall and across the country, and those relationships are one of the best parts of the privilege of serving as a federal judge.  Notably, this is one of the best reasons to join and become active in the NCFTJ

Our work is often hardest where the issues are divisive, and the work has the potential to have a broad impact.  Sometimes, our decisions are criticized, and that’s OK.  If federal trial judges never made mistakes in rendering their decisions, we would not need appellate courts to address them.  Sometimes, we are attacked, and that’s not OK.  Respect for the rule of law must be based on respect for courts, and respect for courts begins with respect for judges.

Here is the second story.  Soon after the ABA Midyear Meeting, I traveled to Tokyo to hold a workshop organized by Tokyo University on comparative business rescue and restructuring systems, to meet with senior and highly experienced former judges and government policy folks, and those meetings were engaging, informative, and useful.

And at the end of the week, I joined some 38,000 people from around the world to run the Tokyo Marathon.  For marathon aficionados, it was my sixth “world major,” along with New York, Boston, Chicago, Berlin, and London.  Was it hard?  Yes, and that’s one of the best things about it.  And it was also a powerful metaphor for the life of a federal trial judge, and our current times.  I prepared for sixteen weeks, following a program that would help me to be ready to take on 26.2 miles, or 42.195 kilometers.  I thought about hydration, fuel, and the course.  I rested and tried not to lose my nerve when I had a modest knee injury about a month before marathon day.  That is, like a federal trial judge preparing for a substantial argument or evidentiary hearing, I prepared in several ways for what I could expect on the day.  And I got some unexpected help from an extraordinarily kind Australian physiotherapist, who helped me tape my knee all week and on marathon morning (thank you Janet!), and a federal district court judge colleague and friend, who encouraged me to be bold and to believe in myself (thank you Judge Hanks!).  

At the same time, I knew that there was plenty that I would not be able to prepare for, including the weather that day (it was warm), any unexpected course conditions (there were a few hills that I did not expect), and any surprises along the way (at the aid stations, water and Pocari Sweat were plentiful, but cups ran out).  It went surprisingly well, I finished in 6,257th place and was “that runner” who just shouted for joy as I crossed the finish line.

So, maybe these days are a bit like that marathon, or anything that requires preparation, effort, stamina, endurance, and a little help from friends, both known and unexpected.  Our work is hard, and that’s one of the best things about it.  Help – even a friendly greeting and a smile from a court officer – is there, sometimes when you most need it and least expect it.  Celebrate the federal trial bench, indeed! 

Hon. Elizabeth Snow Stong
2024-2025 Chair, National Conference of Federal Trial Judges