Judicial mis-steps raise the perennial question of whether judges need to above even the appearance of impropriety. Professor Steven Lubet, of Northwestern, opines, "There is a desire to want to be judged by people who are less blameworthy than we are, that's an ancient invocation. Every time you pull the curtain back and realize it's just human beings, it's troubling.'' I agree with Lubet, but some argue that "pulling back the curtain" is all for the good. . . . The acquittal of Tyco's General Counsel, Mark Belnick, of grand larceny charges was named one of 2004's Top Ten Cases by the National Law Journal -- and come to think of it, should have made my Top Ten Legal Ethics Stories of 2004. Pulling off a flat acquittal of a lawyer -- especially a lavishly paid lawyer -- ain't easy. But Belnick had been wise enough to retain Steptoe & Johnson's Reid Weingarten, who has to be on everyone's short list for that kind of case. . . . Although the legal battles appear nearly done regarding the removal of feeding tubes for Terri Schiavo, a lawyer for her parents vows to fight on, saying that Schiavo herself has never been represented by counsel during the seven year dispute. Promising to continue to fight removal of the tubes, the parents' lawyers says, "I believe if Ted Bundy got a lawyer, Terri Schiavo should get a lawyer." There's something to be said for that, isn't there? Can any Florida lawyers out there explain what Florida law says about Schiavo having her own lawyer appointed? . . . "You are [a] mean-spirited, vicious witch and I don't like your face and I don't like your voice." Is that anyway for a lawyer to speak to a deposition witness? Not in South Carolina (and not anywhere else, I hope.) That incident and others led the S.C. Supreme Court to require lawyers there to watch a one-hour video tape on civility. The NYT reports (reg req'd) that so many lawyers have failed to meet the deadline that the high court is extending the deadline. The article quotes Professor John Freeman, who teaches legal ethics at U.S.C. (the Gamecocks, not the Trojans), as saying that the civility problem is not unique to South Carolina.