Rumor has it that new federal judges are required to read a secret copy of a cult classic among jurists. Although the author of the text is unknown, it’s title is known: It’s called “The Fear of Lawyering.” Some say it’s loosely modeled after Erica Jong’s “Fear of Flying,” although I myself doubt it. Perhaps I am simply unable to associate the long robes of justice with Jong’s libidinal hijinks.
Of course, this is just a rumor. But there is circumstantial evidence that some judges, perhaps new judges most of all, have a fear of lawyers. Why else the attitude that seems to regard lawyers in the well of court as akin to monkeys in a zoo, monkeys in need of a cage, lest they run rampant throughout the courtroom and soil the very carpet of justice?
