Last fall a new rule adopted by the New York Court of Appeals went into effect requiring everyone seeking admission to the State Bar of New York to complete fifty (50) hours of Pro Bono work.
Pro Bono Work
How the Great Thinkers Viewed Judges
As the Election of 2013 draws near, its interesting to consider how the early philosophers thought about Judges.In considering the all important aspect of character, Socrates (470-399 B.C.) said "Four things belong to a Judge: to hear courteously, to answer wisely, to consider soberly, and to decide impartially." 'These elements of character are as important today as they were when Socrates spoke about them nearly three thousand years ago.Another legendary Greek philosopher, Plato wrote in The Republic around 370 B.C., putting great emphasis on experience said "The Judge should not be young: he should have learned to know evil, not from his own soul, but from late and long observance of the nature of evil in others: knowledge should be his guide, not personal experience." We also expect our Judges today to follow the law themselves and that has always been the case according to Cicero (106-43 B.C.) who said "'Ye Judges who give judgements by law, ought to be obedient to the laws." In that same vein the English legal thinker, Frances Bacon around 1623 said" When a Judge departs from the letter of the law, he becomes a law breaker."