U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg sits next to Judge Robert Katzmann, left, of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit during a New York City Bar Association event in 2019. (Photo by David Handschuh/NYLJ)
Aug. 31 was the last day of Robert Katzmann’s seven-year tenure as chief judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. The Federal Bar Council arranged a virtual tribute to Katzmann, featuring a star guest: Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
“He’s a jolly good fellow,” Ginsburg said cheerfully in the tribute video. Without any sign of ill health or slowing down, she reminisced about her decadeslong friendship with Katzmann. As a law professor in 1993, he helped Ginsburg prepare for her Senate confirmation hearing. He suggested what topics to talk about when visiting senators, and which topics to avoid. “I could not have been more wisely counseled,” she said of Katzmann.
