Well, I just got back from a delightful lunch with Alabama Supreme Court Justice Champ Lyons. One of the partners here at the firm is friends with a lot of the political figures around town, and he arranged for the other intern, Henry, and myself to have a chance to talk with Judge Lyons over fajitas at the Capital City Club. The Capital City Club is a rather swanky restaurant located on the very top floor of the highest building downtown, with great panoramic views of the surrounding countryside, so we were dining in high style. I thought it went great. Henry and I peppered him with questions law students are supposed to ask, and he graciously indulged our ignorance, telling several very funny stories along the way. The best was how one time an attorney began his argument before the Supreme Court like this:
“Good morning, Chief Justice, honorable justices. May it please the court, my name is Jeff Smith and I represent the appellant. GOD**MMIT, YOU SON OF A B**TCH!!”
[The entire courtroom was shocked. Several moments of stunned silence went by, with the judges and witnesses all staring aghast at the lawyer.]
“Your honors, those were the last words my client ever spoke….”
I loved it. We were all laughing. In addition to being very, very sharp, Judge Lyons has a great sense of humor and is easy to be around. It sort of changed my opinion of what Supreme Court justices are supposed to be like, especially after seeing and hearing so much about ex-justice Roy Moore and his shenanigans. At another point we were talking about airplane flights and Judge Lyons said he hated how at the end of a very turbulent flight, the pilot always says, “We’ll be on the ground in a few minutes.” The judge said, “I always feel like asking him, ‘Can you be more specific..?’”
Anyway, I’m back in the office hovering over a brief I’ve got to finish in the next few days. Needless to say, I’ll be here late tonight. I’ve only got a week and a half left here at the firm, and then it’s back up to Ohio for Round Two. Time has indeed flown.
(In case you’re interested, here’s a speech Judge Lyons gave recently on ex-judge Roy Moore and judicial activism. Good stuff.)
