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Tuesday, December 19, 2006
Ind. Courts - “I look forward to having people just call me Bob”
Laurie Wink of the Michigan City News-Dispatch reports today:
LaPORTE - On Friday, Robert Gilmore spent the evening at Heston Hills Banquet Center dining, dancing, celebrating and reminiscing about his 37-year law career, 12 spent as LaPorte County Circuit Court Judge.“I look forward to having people just call me Bob,” Gilmore, 62, said during an interview in his soon-to-be-empty office. With three more cases to decide before officially leaving the bench, Gilmore talked about his post-judicial retirement lifestyle, lightheartedly referring to it as “Bob and Barb's Excellent Adventure.”
The Gilmores will be moving to South Carolina, about a four-hour drive from his parents' home. Robert Gilmore Sr., 86, was a long-time Michigan City pediatrician who continues to golf and only recently began using a golf cart rather than walking and carrying his bag, the judge said.
He claims to have pursued a career in law rather than medicine, like his father and grandfather did, because he didn't do well in chemistry. He found his niche, getting elected to the part-time position of Michigan City Court judge at the age of 24 while still in law school. Less than four years later, he ran for Michigan City Common Council and, he said, “got killed” by his opponent.
Gilmore says he's always been interested in politics but prefers not to be heavily involved in it. In fact, he opposes the tradition of having judges seek office through the political party system when they are expected to make impartial rulings once elected.
His love of the law is obvious when he talks about the Circuit Court judge's role in handling a range of cases, from adoptions and guardianships to death penalty cases. * * *
In January, Tom Alevizos, a Michigan City lawyer and deputy prosecutor, will take over as judge of the LaPorte County Circuit Court. What advice would Gilmore give to him?
“I would tell him to do the same thing I did,” Gilmore said. “Every day I walked into the courthouse and said, ‘'Remember where you came from.' Try not to be arrogant or disrespectful. Treat people like human beings and try not to embarrass them. Listen to the evidence and remember that God did not anoint you. I'm no better or worse than anyone appearing as a litigant.”
Posted by Marcia Oddi on December 19, 2006 10:06 AM
Posted to Indiana Courts