White cardboard boxes and newspaper clippings are the physical reminders of more than four decades of legal work that will remain in Chattanooga after U.S. District Judge R. Allan Edgar moves to his native Michigan.
But Edgar’s decisions on key federal cases and his impact on legal colleagues will echo long after he’s settled into his home in Marquette.
“I don’t think anyone could handle a trial as well as he did,” said Chief District Judge Curtis Collier. “I set out to emulate him in many ways.”
Edgar’s patience set him apart from many judges, colleagues said.
A judge often can be an intimidating figure and try to direct lawyers in his court rather than letting them explain their cases, Collier said.