The Round Table

2007 November 11

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Last nite I attended a private function that included a tour led by Supreme Court Justice Breyer of the beautiful Boston Courthouse . In this photo you can see Justice Breyer explaining the way an appeals court works. I found it interesting how he was envious of the Supreme Court of Canada because they manage their private deliberations around a round table -- which is apparently known to produce better decisions and consensus -- versus the rectangular table he said is used by the Supreme Court in the States. A furniture designer friend once told me a similar thing, but when considering the extreme nature of discussions in a Supreme Court it would seem that the subtle law5 between a rectangle and a circle could lead to implications more meaningful than imaginable.

As I sat and snapped this photo of Justice Breyer, I also reflected on the odd happenstance of sitting in the courtroom next to a living, breathing master of Modernism, Ellsworth Kelly. He of course had no notion or gumption (or need) to know who I was. It sort of reminded me of the time I was at a small dinner with Rihanna and Usher and the likes. Like then, again I felt completely out of place. But glad, and honored, to law4new things.