Coffin, Frank M.

English

University of Arkansas at Little Rock: UALR Bowen Law Repository

The Journal of Appellate Practice and Process Volume 8 Issue 2 Article 5 2006 Transitioning Frank M. Coffin Follow this and additional works at: https://lawrepository.ualr.edu/appellatepracticeprocess  Part of the Judges Commons, and the Legal Profession Commons Recommended Citation Frank M. Coffin, Transitioning, 8 J. APP. PRAC. & PROCESS 247 (2006). Available at: https://lawrepository.ualr.edu/appellatepracticeprocess/vol8/iss2/5 This document is brought to you for free and open access by Bowen Law Repository: Scholarship & Archives. It has been accepted for inclusion in The Journal of Appellate Practice and Process by an authorized administrator of Bowen Law Repository: Scholarship & Archives. For more information, please contact mmserfass@ualr.edu. TRANSITIONINGFrank M. Coffin*Life "after the bench" probably has as many patterns asthere are judges lucky enough to have become eligible forretiring. As for me, at age eighty-seven and after forty-onerewarding years on the Court of Appeals for the First Circuit, Iretired from active judicial service. I do, however, proudly retainthe status of Senior Circuit Judge. Since all this happened just afew months ago, I can only report what went into my planningfor this move and why I chose to make it.First of all, I want to make it clear that there is no one-serves-all model for the elderly. In my Pantheon of Admirables,those at the very top include my own Chief Judge, BaileyAldrich, who served well into his nineties, the Eleventh Circuit'sElbert Tuttle, who served till age 97, the Fifth Circuit's JohnMinor Wisdom, who served until just two days short of his 94thbirthday, and the Third Circuit's recently deceased Max Rosenn,who was still working on opinions in his hospital room as heturned 96. These judges and others who have similarly stayed onthe job have indeed lived lives of distinguished service. I took adifferent path.As I passed the mid-eighties mark, I realized that, while Imight yet have a number of years of reasonably good healthahead of me, time was not unlimited. Would I feel "lost" if Istopped judging? Were there other activities than appellatejudging that I wanted to pursue? Did I prefer them, and, if so,why? Was I being rational? I began to take stock of myself andmy interests.I realized at the outset that, despite my length of service asa judge, role changing had been an important part of my life.Although my working life has been centered on the law, I have* Senior Circuit Judge, United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit.THE JOURNAL OF APPELLATE PRACrICE AND PROCESS Vol. 8, No. 2 (Fall 2006)THE JOURNAL OF APPELLATE PRACTICE AND PROCESSbeen privileged to view it from a number of vantage points. Ibegan as a small city solo practitioner, serving for a time aslawyer for my city, then as the litigation partner in what was inthose days deemed a large firm-eleven partners and oneassociate. After a few years, I found myself deep in politics,chairing a renascent Maine Democratic Party, and two yearslater, in the law-making business as a Member of Congress.After two terms and an unsuccessful run for governor, I joinedthe executive branch in the Kennedy administration and servedas Deputy Administrator of the newly created Agency forInternational Development and in the Johnson administration asthe United States representative on aid issues to theOrganization for Economic Cooperation and Development inParis. Then, in 1965, I was appointed to the bench. Now afterthese forty-one years, I had to resolve for myself whether I couldembrace yet another change in role identity.As I surveyed what I call "my private agenda," reading andwriting quickly surfaced. Not just any reading or writing. WhenI began life as a judge, one of the benefits was more time forpersonal pursuits. I began to keep a journal and over the yearshave turned out a formidable number of them. They now clamorfor me to read them, to reflect on past events, people,impressions.., and to write about what seems worth saying. Ihave taken to heart these words from that old Roman wordsmithMartial: "Our lives are two/ If we can relish our past life anew."' 'I look forward to this kind of activity. Indeed, I have alwaysrelished writing. Quite apart from the drafting of olinions, Ihave written several books (mostly about judging), a largenumber of speeches and articles, and two volumes ofunpublished memoirs about my life and work "before thebench."Another activity which judicial life allowed me has turnedinto a serious avocation-creating sculptures from wood and,occasionally, stone. Before retiring, I was limited to Saturdays,1. See The Art of the Personal Essay: An Anthology from the Classical Era to thePresent 58, 60 (Phillip Lopate compiler, Anchor Doubleday 1994) (reprinting Michel deMontaigne, On Some Verses of Virgil).2. See e.g. Frank M. Coffin, On Appeal: Courts, Lawyering, and Judging (W.W.Norton 1994); Frank M. Coffin, The Ways of a Judge: Reflections from the FederalAppellate Bench (Houghton Mifflin 1980).AFTER THE BENCH- COFFINbut even so, I have produced one or more sculptures a year, frombasswood, bubinga, black walnut, mahogany, and soapstone oralabaster. I consider myself fortunate to have such an activityinviting me to work at a bench rather than sit on one. I like tothink that it stimulates me to use an artistically creative part ofthe brain not exercised in judging.The contrast between devoting myself to such activities andcontinuing on with judicial work came into focus one day whileI was reading briefs in preparation for oral argument. The appealwas from a Tax Court decision and posed the question whether astatute requiring the tax collector to give notice to the taxpayerbefore seizing property when making a "levy" also applied to itsaction in "offsetting" a tax obligation against funds which thegovernment already owed to the taxpayer. Important? Probably,to the IRS. To the taxpayer, certainly. Would I enjoy getting intoit? Yes. All cases held their own challenges to decision orcraftsmanship. But could I live without it? Yes. A short timeafter this, I received a memo on another upcoming case sayingthat the court had given permission to the parties to submitbriefs of 100 pages. The case involved multiple defendantsallegedly engaged in organized criminal activity and sprouted aforest of issues. I silently hoped that I would not be assigned thiscase for opinion writing. I now had only one law clerk and suchan enterprise would demand all of our time for a lengthy period.I came to the realization that although cases readily manageablefor my reduced chambers might not be terribly challenging, the"blockbusters" were really out of bounds for me.I also had to ask the question whether a decision to retirefrom active judicial duties would be letting my colleagues down.I did not feel that this factor weighed very heavily. I think I wasbeing realistic in concluding that, considering the range of casesI would be working on, I would not be shortchanging the courtby withdrawing. Moreover, looking ahead, I had to consider thepossible inroads of the aging process. I like to think that thewisdom and judgment gained over the years do not decline withadvancing age. And I suspect this is quite true. But it alsoseemed to me that other qualities might well diminish. Attorneysmight seem to speak in lower voices. Reading, thinking, andwriting might take longer times. Retention of facts andarguments might decrease. And multi-tasking might be difficult.THE JOURNAL OF APPELLATE PRACTICE AND PROCESSAdded to these considerations was a much overdue increasein helping maintain our home and taking some of the load ofhousehold chores off the shoulders of Ruth, my wife of sixty-four years. She had for some time coped with age-relatedmacular degeneration and had not been driving. I knew that Ishould be more helpful and frankly looked forward to acompanionship that now would expand to benefit each of us aswe shared one another's strengths. Such thoughts, although notcompelling, counseled foresight and timely decision.What prompted me to make a decision in the spring andsummer of 2005 was my awakening realization that someadvance planning was necessary if the closing of my chamberswas to proceed with grace and fairness. I had been blessed inrecent years with a staff of a quality in inverse proportion to itssize. My solitary career law clerk, Barbara, had been with me fortwenty-three years, over half of my total service. And mysecretary, Gail, now my judicial assistant, had served with mefor twenty years. Each was still young, with years ofaccomplishment ahead of her. It was time for them to move on,although each would have willingly stayed as long as I wished.But "moving on" required time. Knowing that a colleague wouldwant to inherit my clerk, I still needed to advise him of heravailability a year ahead of the event, in keeping with the clerkhiring cycle. And my judicial assistant needed time to findemployment that fitted into her own plans. So it was that at theend of summer in 2005, I notified Chief Judge Boudin that, as ofthe end of September 2006, I would be yielding up mychambers.This notice received some publicity and ushered in whatbecame a memorable "winding down" year. It surprised me thatannouncing such a future action was considered news. But ithelped sharpen my awareness of the passing year. The clerk atthe check-out counter of our supermarket, my dentist, my barberand my mailman-all took note of my impending status. Isavored going to chambers, reading briefs, hearing argument,conferring with colleagues, researching and writing opinions,and working with my law clerk and judicial assistant. Each "lasttime" held its own poignancy and significance. There were alsoa number of celebratory rites of passage. My court colleaguesheld an intimate dinner for me, my family, my chambers staff,AFTER THE BENCH -COFFINand key court personnel. Justice Souter came up fromWashington. Next day, May 3, was my last sitting to heararguments. Justice Breyer joined us on the bench and theaudience was sprinkled with a goodly number of former clerks.A high point was reached in July with a memorable clerkreunion and lobster feast. Over a hundred of us gathered,including forty-six of my sixty-six living former clerks, theirspouses and children, and our own family. My clerks had overthe years developed into a real community, even adopting forthemselves a most appropriate collective title-they were a"clever of clerks." The clever had conspired to give us an album,complete with updated news and photos of all. We were leftfeeling that we had experienced a wonderful and rare celebrationof our good fortune in creating such a community of bright,valuable, and loving spirits.Following this were other, smaller occasions-a lunchhosted by my Maine federal court colleagues and a reception atour District Courthouse, where I have had my chambers. Thiswas attended by all in the building-judges, security guards,marshals, secretaries, clerk's office personnel. I reflected thatnow I was clearly the most venerable inhabitant of the building,for I had first had an office, next to my present chambers, in1947, as law clerk to District Judge John D. Clifford, Jr., aTruman appointee. When he hired me, I became the first of thelaw clerk species, state or federal, to serve in Maine.Finally, Friday, September 29, 2006, arrived. My last day. Ivisited our security people at the courthouse front door andsported a tiny United States Marshal badge that the Marshal hadbestowed on me, warning them that I would keep an eye onthem. At noon about a dozen of my local clerk-secretary familycame bringing lunch, and we talked about many old times. A bitlater I handed over my key to chambers to Chief Judge Singal.Ruth and I descended to the courtyard, got in our car, and leftthe courtyard for the last time.So, you ask, how is your new life working out? Oh, there'sa lot to tell ... but right now I don't have time. I have to getback to those journals. And there's a carving in my shop thatneeds work. And, oh yes, I have to finish my piece for "After theBench."

Transitioning

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