作者:威廉·罗伯茨
2017年2月6日
美国民主党在全美50个州和80多个国家都有成员.C. 酒吧 is beginning a regular feature to profile the people who make up our community. Read about your peers, their lives, and their work around the world.
蒙哥马利县巡回法院法官Harry C. Storm, D。.C. 酒吧 member and former principal in the Bethesda law firm Lerch, Early & Brewer, Chartered, currently serves as president of the Maryland State 酒吧 Association. Storm grew up in Frostburg, Maryland, and attended the University of Baltimore School of Law. 在接受D.C. 酒吧, Storm讨论了一系列的话题, 包括他在法官席上的观点, 给初入行当的年轻靠谱的滚球平台的忠告, 以及礼貌在法律实践中的重要性.
你曾经是大洋城的警察，是真的吗?
A lot of my friends from college either worked on the beach patrol or with the Ocean City Police Department. At the time they hired like 80 summer cops to supplement the full-time force because of the huge increase in summer population. 我在大学和法学院之间的那个暑假做的, 然后在法学院一年级后又回去了. 这是一次很棒的经历.
你在巴尔的摩开始了你的靠谱的滚球平台生涯. 那是什么感觉??
我在那家公司工作 . . . Melnicove,考夫曼 & 维纳. We were representing Governor Marvin Mandel at the time in his criminal case, 所以这是一个令人兴奋的开始. 两年后，我回到蒙哥马利县, 在州检察官办公室待了几年. Then I was with a firm in Bethesda when the firm started representing this trade association of service station dealers. I was going to be the grunt that dealers could call with questions. When the firm broke up, I continued to represent the association.
You got involved in the bar association early as a young attorney. 为什么?
It was a great way to not only make connections with people who were going to be my colleagues, 而是为了让自己进入这个行业. The people who I met early on through bar activities have stayed close friends. 这是我职业生涯中很重要的一部分.
从私人执业转变为法官是什么感觉?
这是一个学习曲线. I have spent the first year mostly on family law issues, and I didn’t practice family law. 这让我精神振奋, 具有挑战性的, and reenergizing to learn an area of the law you didn’t know before. 你会遇到所有相同的证据问题. 一年过去了，我现在对它感觉很舒服.
Does watching lawyers perform in court give you a different view of the profession?
从板凳的这一边看事情是很不一样的. There’s a wide range of experience with respect to the lawyers who come before you. 你有更年轻的靠谱的滚球平台和更有经验的靠谱的滚球平台. 我的经历是非常积极的. 我对我们的系统感觉很好. There is certainly still an unmet need for legal services, especially in family law. 我们确实有很多没有靠谱的滚球平台代表的诉讼当事人. It is not uncommon to have one or both of the parties unrepresented. 这就带来了挑战. 每天都是新的冒险. 有警察拿着搜查令进来, 需要处理的动议, 需要做各种各样的决定.
What is the Maryland 酒吧 doing about access to legal services and what needs to be done in terms of providing resources?
It’s a constant struggle in terms of finding ways to match lawyers with those who are in need of the services. 我们一直在寻找解决这个问题的方法. 在马里兰州，我们有很多法律服务提供商, organizations providing pro bono legal services to those who can’t afford it. We have a 50-hour aspirational goal; every lawyer has to provide at least 50 hours of pro bono service.
Any advice for attorneys interested in becoming a judge on how to become a judge?
One of the best things that you can do is be very active in bar activities because I think it is very important for people who have an interest in becoming a judge to be well known within the legal community of the place where they want to become a judge. 所以靠谱的滚球平台们了解他们，了解他们的性情. It’s important for a judge to be respectful of the parties and the lawyers. Temperament and a display of civility and impartiality are important attributes. Ultimately our selection process involves getting through a nominating commission. I interviewed with 15 different local bar associations that have committees to look at prospective judicial candidates, all of which then report to the commission with their view of the candidate.
你提到了气质. 你之前讲过礼貌的重要性. 就气质而言，现在对法官的要求是什么?
这是我试图让大家记住的. You can be disagreeable with your opponent even in the litigation context, but it’s important to remain civil to each other and it is particularly important for the lawyers to maintain a level of civility to each other in the face of warring. Our state bar has a code of civility and I keep that displayed in my office.
Do you have much interaction with the other judges at the courthouse?
Our Administrative Judge John Debelius gets us together regularly. We have doughnuts every Friday morning, a brown bag lunch on Tuesdays, a retreat every year. We try to get together as much as we can, but there will be weeks where I hardly see anyone. 我会在法庭上待一整天, 在室内吃午餐, 在我走出去之前别离开. 这和在靠谱的滚球平台事务所工作不一样. One of the things I do miss about private practice is the interaction with all of my friends. I had the fortune of practicing with wonderful people for many years.
你认为统一靠谱的滚球平台考试应该走向全国吗?
这是我们目前正在关注的问题. Chief Judge Mary Ellen 酒吧bera has appointed a committee to look at whether we should adopt it here in Maryland. 我预测最终会是这样. It makes it easier for new practitioners to move from state to state. Anything we can do to help improve the employment prospects of new lawyers, that’s a good thing.
有什么建议给年轻的靠谱的滚球平台吗?
努力工作. 保持专注. But also be sure to allow enough time to devote to your family and time for yourself. 锻炼是保持头脑清醒的最好方法之一.
