| Viewing Single Post From: Blog and Media Roundup - Saturday, July 4, 2009 | |
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| abb | Jul 4 2009, 04:30 AM |
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http://heraldsun.southernheadlines.com/orange/10-1178113.cfm Judge Coleman retires, returns to law practice BY BETH VELLIQUETTE : The Herald-Sun bvelliquette@heraldsun.com Jul 4, 2009 Bookmark and Share CHAPEL HILL -- Alonzo Coleman is officially former Judge Coleman. Coleman, known by most people as Lonnie, retired as of June 30, when he turned 72, the age when judges in North Carolina are forced to retire, whether they're ready or not. For now, Coleman is returning to his old law firm, Coleman, Gledhill, Hargrave & Peek. He may work as an emergency judge when needed but doesn't know yet if that will work out for him. In the meanwhile, he's returning to practicing law. In fact, the day after he retired, his son, Sam Coleman, also an attorney in the firm, asked his father to go to district court in Alamance County for him and ask for a continuance on a case. Coleman dressed in his best lawyer outfit, with a real tie and not the bolo or braided ties he often wore when he was on the bench, got the continuance, but his first day back as a lawyer did not go without problems. First he walked into the courtroom with a cell phone that he had forgotten to turn off. That's a no-no in court, and if it had gone off, a deputy may have confiscated it or charged Coleman with contempt of court. Simple enough to turn it off, but Coleman didn't know how and had to ask the woman sitting next to him for help. Once he got the continuance, he forgot got to write down the date and also forgot to talk to his client about the continuance, he said. "I was so used to other people writing the date down, I didn't write it down," he said with a chuckle. He'll have to work on that, he said. Coleman, a man who likes to take long walks through Hillsborough, (sometimes too long, according to some of the folks who have been sitting in court waiting on him), is always quick with a joke and friendly smile. His favorite funny stories often involve something goofy he did, and he's more likely to giggle than laugh out loud. Now that he's retired and wants to get back in the lawyering game, he's said he needs to catch up on a few things. One is how to use a computer and the Internet. "I'm the only judge that never used a computer," he said. "Now I'm going to try to use one. I've got one on my desk at the office." So far, he's learned how to turn it on and find the web page for a newspaper in Oaxaca, Mexico. Oaxaca is a special place for Coleman and his wife, Nancy. Each year they take a trip there to study Spanish. "The reason I started studying Spanish was that little girl from Guatemala that had been raped," he said. "She couldn't say anything to me, and I couldn't say anything to her. She was crying." That day, Coleman asked the interpreter about learning to speak Spanish, and he and his wife began taking classes with the interpreter that week and still do to this day. Now he and his wife both speak Spanish in their work. When Spanish-speaking defendants came to court, Coleman was able to speak to them directly. "It really made court more enjoyable for me," Coleman said. "It made it more interesting to me." Coleman likely will remember his last day on the bench, not because of any unusual cases, but because that's the day everyone was so cordial, he said with a laugh. "It was pleasant really," he said. "People were nicer really, saying they were going to miss me." |
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| Blog and Media Roundup - Saturday, July 4, 2009 · DUKE LACROSSE - Liestoppers | |
9:50 AM Nov 29
