Riding Metro-North to work a few weeks ago, I was startled by an article in the New York Times (Sept. 12, 2017 at A18) about Judge Richard Posner. The prolific Posner, recently retired from the Seventh Circuit, was being interviewed by the Times and made some extraordinary comments.

“I pay very little attention to legal rules, statutes, constitutional provisions,” said Posner, who has written over 3,300 judicial opinions. “A case is just a dispute. The first thing you do is ask yourself—forget about the law—what is sensible resolution of this dispute?”

Don't worry if the law is against you, advises Posner. “When you have a Supreme Court case or something similar, they're often extremely easy to get around.”