Sophia Voravong has a good article on Judge Warren Thompson who passed away at age 90 this past Saturday. He was the judge of Tippecanoe Circuit Court from 1961 to 1984. I only had the opportunity to directly interact with Judge Thompson as a senior judge; doing routine tasks at motion hour and whatnot.
The article notes that members of the legal community and even prisoners he sentenced described him as gentle, kind, and never having a bad day. He was also funny. At the memorial service for Fred Hoffman, the founding partner of my firm, he had the room laughing at a story about Fred; something about a chair breaking if memory serves. I just remember that his delivery and timing were perfect.
Rest in peace, Judge.
I did not have a lot of interaction with Judge Thompson but I appreciated his “cut to the chase” approach. I was once at a hearing where a young attorney had presented a long list of defenses. The Judge looked at him and said something to the effect of “which of this long list do you actually believe?”. The attorney was a little taken aback but finally admitted that maybe two had merit. The Judge then looked at both attorneys and said call me when you have worked it out.