Judges often need other colleagues as friends, not just as mere acquaintances; I have no doubt about that. The social isolation and the peculiar pressures of the judicial position informs this view. For the most part, trial judges work in separate courtrooms and except for perhaps lunch hours and certain evening bar association activities, they are cut off from each other. They work alone. They must also be wary of signs of friendship, flattery and flummery(1) from lawyers coming in and out of their courtroom as merely expression of self-interest.

Developing real friendships may be as difficult for judicial colleagues as it would be at any workplace venue perhaps even more so; judicial colleagues may find themselves competing with “friends” for better quarters and assignments and even advancement to prestigious appellate courts. The inevitability of these frictions may test any friendship.