Paths To The Bench

This pamphlet is intended to serve as a guide for law students and lawyers early in their careers who are interested in pursuing an Article of federal judgeship in the future (Article III being the section of the Constitution concerned with federal judges nominated by the President, confirmed by the Senate, and appointed for life). By providing basic information about how to assess one's candidacy, as well as what to expect during the nomination and confirmation phases of the judicial selection process, we hope to illuminate what is often a somewhat obscure process and help the reader plan ahead. We also point to sources where further information can be obtained. The end goal is to facilitate the rise of a diverse group of talented lawyers to the federal bench.

What do you do if you want to sue someone in Small Claims Court, or you've been served with an eviction notice, or someone is harassing you, or barraging you with texts and emails, or you're the victim in an automobile accident, or you've been arrested? When do you need a lawyer, how do you find the right one, what questions should you ask, and what can you expect from your lawyer? This book will answer all these questions and more. It will provide you with essential guidelines and practical tools you will need to navigate through the legal system, thus saving you both time and money. Real stories and cases are used to illustrate the concepts in this book. Using the principles of Universal Law, this book will also help you learn to turn an unfortunate situation into an opportunity for personal growth.For more than half a century, Judge Herb Dodell, has served as both a successful attorney in the "trench," and as a Superior Court Judge Pro Tem on the "bench," having presided over more than 10,000 cases. As a lawyer, he has tried more than one hundred jury trials, civil and criminal, in both state and federal courts, and has successfully argued before the California Supreme Court.

A Playful Path, the new book by games guru and fun theorist Bernard De Koven, serves as a collection of ideas and tools to help us bring our playfulness back into the open. When we find ourselves forgetting the life of the game or the game of life, the joy of form or the content, the play of brain or mind, body or spirit, this book can help us return to that which our soul is heir.

In Governing from the Bench, Emmett Macfarlane draws on interviews with current and former justices, law clerks, and other staff members of the court to shed light on the institution’s internal environment and decision-making processes. He explores the complex role of the Supreme Court as an institution; exposes the rules, conventions, and norms that shape and constrain its justices’ behavior; and situates the court in its broader governmental and societal context, as it relates to the elected branches of government, the media, and the public.

Judges and legal scholars talk past one another, if they have any conversation at all. Academics criticize judicial decisions in theoretical terms, which leads many judges to dismiss academic discourse as divorced from reality. Richard Posner reflects on the causes and consequences of this widening gap and what can be done to close it.

You don’t often hear of elected officials who are battling mental illness. Social, professional, and political stigma are the problem, yet a quarter of our population has anxiety, depression, or both, and continue to be productive and effective on the job, in their families, and around their communities. This is a mental health memoir even more than a memoir of a judicial election. Judges, as much as anyone else, carry huge responsibilities. Faith, family, friends, and good medical care are part of the process for addressing mental illness that threatens to interfere with those responsibilities. If you battle mental illness or know someone who does (and you do, statistics show), others may try to convince you that mental illnesses like depression and anxiety are all in your head. Tell them this: “Of course, mental illness is all in your head. And a heart attack is all in your chest. Go see a doctor either way.” This book will help you feel better equipped to tell them that yourself.