THE BEST JOB IN THE WORLD

THE judge is pretty pleased with his new chambers, which offer the best sweeping view of Manhattan - uptown and down - that you are ever likely to see. And he is pretty pleased with his life. Here is somebody who clearly loves his work.

The judge in question is Charles S Haight Jr, who used to be Charles S Haight 111 and whose real name may be Terry. Either way, there is nothing junior about Judge Haight, who dispenses justice in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York. He is the best-known man in black in the US maritime industries. And he brings into his chambers the same impressive authority he enjoys in his courtroom, yet tempered by a disarming openness and accessibility.

Terry Haight (for I have decided to call him such) was born into a family which was very much involved in maritime law. His grandfather was one of the founding fathers of Haight Gardner at the turn of the last century. "A brilliant man," says Terry, leading me over to the far wall of his chambers, where a framed photograph of his grandfather hangs alongside one of his father. He is clearly immensely proud of both men.

Terry's grandfather dealt with many of the leading cases of his day, especially collisions. He was also heavily involved in getting the York-Antwerp Rules ratified and enacted under COGSA before, hardly pausing for breath, directing his efforts to getting the Brussels Collision Convention ratified in the US. Sadly, he died before he was able to achieve this.

Terry's father , who joined Haight Gardner as a young associate after graduating from Yale College, became over time just as eminent in international and domestic maritime law circles as his own father. The two men were very different, but Terry grew up knowing very well what life was like as a busy maritime lawyer, and he decided very early on that that was what he wanted to do.

He had a fair idea while still at college that he had some of the right stuff to go into the law. He was heavily involved in the debating society and in amateur dramatics and, as he acknowledges now, "Every successful trial lawyer or judge has to be assisted by several slices of ham."
Terry graduated from Yale College in 1952, and prepared to follow the familiar family path. A spell of two years working for the justice department in Washington gave him what he describes as "a calling towards public service", but he then returned to Haight Gardner and settled down to make his mark on hull and charter party disputes and the like.

"I can do my job without being subjected to political pressures. I can do what I think is right, for the rest of my career. I don't have to run for re-election."

In 1976, Terry was appointed US District Judge for the Southern District of New York by the Ford White House administration. "I felt myself blessed," he says of his appointment. "It represented a coming together of my aspirations and my abilities."

Terry got some good advice on his appointment as a judge. A friend warned him, "You're going to feel strange up there, on high, wearing a black dress. Make sure your first case is one which will at least involve something you know. Find a non-jury, admiralty case."

Terry followed this advice, and found himself presiding over an East River collision dispute. It was a comparatively lengthy trial - two or three weeks - and Terry soon "got used to sitting up there". And he wasn't reversed. Thus began one of the most distinguished careers in US maritime judicial history.

Terry's first criminal case involved commercial fraud. The jury couldn't reach a decision, and Terry was obliged to send them back to try again. They did, and convicted. "That was my first glimpse of the very dramatic world of the criminal trial," says Terry, "and I loved it. There is something about a criminal case. All life is there. It can make your blood run cold. But I find it very worthwhile weighing the points advocated by zealous prosecutors and clever defence lawyers, using my resources and those of the court to ensure an essential guarantee of fairness."

Terry is a fan of the US justice system. He acknowledges that the fact that federal judges are appointed for life arouses jealousy, and leads to accusations of old-school-tie appointments. "It's true in my case," admits Terry, "but it has an upside. I can do my job without being subjected to political pressures. I can do what I think is right, for the rest of my career. I don't have to run for re-election. Having said that, if I had needed to go out to try and win an election for the right to sit as a judge I would have done so."

Under the US system, all active judges get their share of all types of cases, ranging from East River collisions to homicide. The key to the allocation of cases is a series of wooden wheels into which the clerk of the court places envelopes containing the names of the circuit judges, thereby deciding which judges will hear which disputes. In simplistic terms, the A wheel is for two-week-long cases, the B wheel covers 3-4-week disputes, and the C wheel embraces everything longer than that.

As a senior judge, Terry is entitled to have his name taken off the C wheel. Certainly, he intends never to try a six-month case ever again. But his enthusiasm for the law, and for his job, is inexhaustible. "Being a trial judge in this particular court is the finest calling in the world," he says. "I can't imagine a better job. For a senior judge, it is a work of love, pure and simple. Indeed, many senior judges do it for those very reasons. I can retire on full salary when I choose to, and I can make money doing something else. But I'm happy doing what I'm doing." There is no sign of him wanting to do anything else.

Before I leave the courthouse, I get the chance to sit in at the back of a hearing conducted by the judge. I am in place as the court rises in acknowledgement of Judge Haight. But, as he walks in, I hardly recognise him. One can still sense the authority, the sympathy with any just cause, and the impatience with the unjust or the false. But that black dress. That amplified, magisterial voice. Overall, the impression is one of scrupulousness and approach-ability. But certainly not the sort of bloke you would call 'Terry'.