Today's DJ has
Justice Arthur Gilbert marks 50 years on the bench, looks toward his next act -- A towering figure in California's judiciary and a devoted jazz pianist celebrates five decades on the bench on Monday. Known for his wit, clarity and collegiality, Arthur Gilbert plans to retire at the end of the year.
- Gilbert will mark 50 years of judicial service on Labor Day but won't hang up his robe until the end of the year.
- As he put it in a Daily Journal column last year, "But when I do retire, I hope to get a gig playing standards in a bar. Drop by and request your favorite tune. ... And don't forget the glass filled with dollar bills on the piano. It won't be a bad transition. At least I will still be sitting on the bench."
- Gilbert wrote hundreds of opinions, but his irrepressible voice has had its say beyond the California Official Reports. By his count, he's so far written 364 legal affairs columns for the Daily Journal. In one 2008 offering, he contended that it's a bad idea to include limericks or other poetic forms in legal decisions, lest litigants find it disrespectful. He concluded: "There once was a judge not so solemn. / His opinions solved many a problem. / He often told jokes / To all the good folks. / But limericks he saved for his column."
