Back in 1996, when I decided to take a crack at an appointment to the court of appeal, I walked over to the courtroom next to mine to talk to Dick Weatherspoon about it. I was trying to figure out which of my fellow superior court judges was likely to be competition for the job, and since "Spoon" had already beaten me out for a municipal court position in the mid-’80s, I knew him to be a formidable adversary.

I’ll never forget his response when I asked if he was going after the seat. He looked at me for a moment like I’d suddenly begun speaking in tongues, and then bellowed, "Court of appeal? Are you kidding me? Who would want that job? Billy, if I could quitclaim you my rights to an appellate court position, I would do it in a heartbeat."

This content has been archived. It is available through our partners, LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law.

To view this content, please continue to their sites.

Not a Lexis Subscriber?
Subscribe Now

Not a Bloomberg Law Subscriber?
Subscribe Now

Why am I seeing this?

LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law are third party online distributors of the broad collection of current and archived versions of ALM's legal news publications. LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law customers are able to access and use ALM's content, including content from the National Law Journal, The American Lawyer, Legaltech News, The New York Law Journal, and Corporate Counsel, as well as other sources of legal information.

For questions call 1-877-256-2472 or contact us at [email protected]