Page 45 - ACTL Journal Win24

Later, during his service as a family court judge in the Cal- ifornia state system, Judge Fogel encountered what he de- scribed as “the intense emotional conflict and the pain that people would bring to those proceedings and the value of being calm and being a good listener and being compas- sionate and all of the ways that you could . . . bring justice and a little bit of order to the situation.” These attributes
– the ability to listen, to show interest and understanding, and to be mindful about the people and issues before the court – are among the characteristics that frame Judge Fo- gel’s description of “The Human Side of Judging.” They are also fundamental characteristics of Judge Fogel’s definition of what it means to provide “Access to Justice” – a princi- ple specifically featured in the College’s Mission Statement. His definition, which is broader than many common de- scriptions, was a significant feature of Judge Fogel’s remarks.
At an earlier event, Judge Fogel described Access to Justice:
Part of the meaning of access to justice simply is that meaningful participation in dispute resolution processes should be affordable and widely available. But at a deep- er level, it means that our justice system itself needs to account for the fact that many of the disputes in which people are involved reflect concerns and life problems beyond the formal confines of legal doctrines. Lawyers, judges, court staff and others who interact with court users can do so much more effectively if they have an interdisciplinary perspective and well-developed skills, especially the ability to listen well.
During his remarks to the College, he expanded on the definition:
Real access to justice means not only that you’re physical- ly in the courtroom but that you, to the extent possible, are seen and heard; that’s what the litigants want. That’s what they hope for. That’s their aspiration; their internal yearning for justice is about being seen and heard. And I’ve got to say, even if they don’t win sometimes, the fact that they were seen and heard makes a huge difference.
These statements reflect Judge Fogel’s career-long interest in developing education programs that incorporate training to help judicial officers learn effective listening skills. The programs also recognize the power of empathy and teach how to recognize the often counterproductive effects of unconscious biases. He has devoted much of his career to developing judicial education curriculums that emphasize these characteristics and help teach judicial officers how to model them in their courtrooms.
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