After 20 years of shortening court cases down from 1,000-word decisions to 150-word YOU BE THE JUDGE cases, Ritter tired of their lack of depth. "I wanted to write something thoughtful about subjects of concern to the legal world," he said. He produced 500-word articles on everything from mediation to picking juries, and the JFK assassination. In between, he explored practicing lawyer issues like Lawyer Personality, Lawyer Image, Too Many Lawyers, Storefront Lawyers, Contingency Fees, and Do Lawyers Charge Too Much. Popular mainly in legal newspapers, Ritter persists in writing these VIEWPOINT essays to provoke thought and debate among lawyers and to force himself to look at and analyze cutting-edge subjects, "After all," says Ritter, "if I read and write only about law cases, I am looking backward and reporting on what has happened; it is necessary to look forward and write about issues that are not yet in reported cases and decisions ."

Samples of this column may be viewed on this website by clicking on LAW STUDENTS, LAWYERS, and JUDGES. Ritter writes one new VIEWPOINT per month and furnishes it to subscribers for a $50 annual subscription, which is available on the ONLINE STORE.