Silver dons black robe of 106th justice Bangor man joins high court

BANGOR – With the help of his sons, Warren M. Silver donned the black robe he will wear for his new job and then took his seat as the 106th justice of the Maine Supreme Judicial Court.

“I thought it’d be a nicer chair,” Silver, 57, of Bangor joked Monday afternoon as he sat down in the well-worn chair used by the justice when the state’s highest court hears arguments in Bangor.

State and federal judges from around Maine joined Bangor area lawyers to pack the third-floor courtroom in Penobscot County Courthouse for Silver’s brief robing ceremony. Gov. John Baldacci administered the same two oaths Silver took last month in the Blaine House at his official, but private, swearing-in.

Silver’s sons, Daniel Silver, 27, and Andrew Silver, 24, helped their father into his robe while their mother, Evelyn Silver, other family members, the governor and more than 200 people witnessed the event. Friends and family, judges and lawyers rose to their feet and applauded as the new justice, clad in his shiny new robe, turned and faced them.

“I want to thank the governor for his confidence in me and the Legislature for its support,” Silver told the crowd. “I also want to thank all my colleagues in the Penobscot County Bar.”

Both of Silver’s sons, who graduated from Bangor High School, are pursuing legal careers. Daniel Silver is a clerk for a U.S. District Court judge in New York, and Andrew Silver will begin his second year of law school next month. Warren Silver’s wife, Evelyn, is the senior adviser to University of Maine President Robert Kennedy.

Shortly before Silver joined her on the bench, Chief Justice Leigh I. Saufley dubbed him “the 3-H judge.”

“Humanity, humility and, thank God, a sense of humor,” she said. “Those are the three H’s he brings to the court.”

Baldacci described Silver as “a dear and close friend.”

“After today, he’s there for our citizens,” the governor said as his brothers Peter Baldacci and Joseph Baldacci, both Bangor lawyers, sat in the audience. “You’ll bring to the court those high standards we’ve come to expect of you – integrity and honesty.”

Baldacci nominated Silver to the post in April, and the Senate later confirmed him to replace Justice Paul L. Rudman, 70, of Veazie, who retired earlier this month. Rudman was appointed in 1992 by then-Gov. John McKernan to replace retiring Chief Justice Vincent L. McKusick.

Rudman attended Monday’s ceremony. His 13 years on the bench will be celebrated today at a dinner sponsored by the Penobscot County Bar Association.

Silver has been on the job since Aug. 1 working from Rudman’s former office on the third floor of Penobscot County Courthouse. Rudman’s father, Abraham M. Rudman, who served on the high court from 1965 until his death in 1970, worked from the same office.

During his years on the bench, Paul Rudman wore his father’s robes.

Rudman has returned to private practice at the firm he founded in the 1960s.

Silver gave up a lucrative private practice and took a pay cut to become a judge on the state’s high court. His most well-known client was Stephen King.

King, his wife, Tabitha, and younger son Owen attended Monday’s ceremony.

“We’ll miss his service, but we’re delighted he’s serving all the people,” Stephen King said.

The best-selling author added that he consulted Silver on legal issues for his 1998 novel “Bag of Bones.”

“It’s our loss but the people’s gain,” Tabitha King said as the family left the courthouse.