RCBA Board of Directors 2006-2007 - Riverside County Bar ...

The Gift of Justiceby Judge Craig G. RiemerAnyone who practices in Riverside County knows that our courthas no spare judicial resources. When one judge or commissioner issick or on vacation or at a class, there is no other bench officer whohas the spare time to step in and hear the absent colleague’s cases.Instead, we turn to the bar, and ask its members to volunteer theirtime, talents, and experience by serving astemporary judges.And the bar has answered the call. Sofar during this calendar year, 166 differentattorneys have donated a total of 686.63 daysof service as temporary judges. As amazingas that number is, those statistics cover onlytwo-thirds of the year, from January throughAugust! That is an average of more than fourfull days per attorney. (Some served far morethan that average.) Even at a modest hourlyrate of $180, that constitutes an average giftby each of those attorneys of over $5,760 inbillable time.The value to the Court, however, is farmore. Without these generous individuals,hundreds of cases would have had to havebeen either continued (again) or crammedonto the calendars of other bench officerswho already had more cases then they couldproperly handle. In the latter event, decisionswould have been made — the caseswould have “processed” — but the quality ofthose decisions would have been doubtful.In other words, justice would probably havebeen either delayed or denied. Instead, thosecases were able to be decided in a timelyand deliberate way by temporary judges, allbecause of the generosity of the lawyers ofthis county.They say that donating blood is the giftof life. Giving your time as a temporaryjudge is a gift of justice. On behalf of thejudges and commissioners of the RiversideSuperior Court, and on behalf of all attorneysand litigants who have appeared before you,I thank each of the temporary judges whohave so freely and so frequently made thatprecious gift.The Honorable Craig G. Riemer, a past presidentof the RCBA, is Chair of the Riverside SuperiorCourt Temporary Judges Committee.12 Riverside Lawyer, November 2006