An all-nighter with a hot pen followed by a bottle of wine! No doubt about it, she needed a nap!

I believe in the power of naps, and consequently, I take a power nap nearly every day.

I have a nice couch in my office, and almost every day, after lunch, I close my door, kick off my shoes, curl up on that sofa and close my eyes. Within seconds I’m off to dreamland. I wake up without an alarm clock, ten or fifteen minutes later, and I feel fabulous. I’m ready to spend the rest of the afternoon in a relentless pursuit of justice on behalf of my clients!

Some people think we nappers are lazy. Nothing could be further from the truth. Some of the most vigorous and accomplished people in the history of the world were nappers, and their naps were bedrocks, so to speak, of their success.

Foremost on the list of daytime snoozers was Sir Winston Churchill. Even during the darkest days of the Second World War, Sir Winston would enjoy a two hour afternoon nap each day at 10 Downing Street. Invigorated after his nap, he would work until midnight, and in the process, he saved civilization. The greatest orator in the history of the English language, Churchill described naps as “that refreshment of blessed oblivion which, even if it only lasts 20 minutes, is sufficient to renew all the vital forces.”

Other famous nappers include Presidents John F. Kennedy, Lyndon Johnson, and Ronald Reagan, artist Salvador Dali, inventor Thomas Edison, and General Stonewall Jackson.
My napping role model was my late mentor, Judge Billy Frank Crawford.

During the first four years of my law practice, I had the privilege of carrying Judge Crawford’s brief case to the courthouse. He was one of the finest trial lawyers I ever saw, and every day he would nap during the lunch hour, even when he was in a jury trial. During my career, I’ve seen lawyers, juries, and yes, even judges, fall asleep after lunch during a jury trial. But thanks to his lunch time nap, Judge Billy Frank was always wide awake in the courtroom, giving every witness and every exhibit his undivided attention.

Recently I have discovered a new napping role model. She’s United States Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg. She’s America’s Supreme napper.

One of Justice Ginberg’s recent naps was witnessed by millions of people as it was broadcast on national TV. It occurred in January during President Obama’s annual State of the Union Address.

Members of the United States Supreme Court get front row seats in Congress for the State of the Union Address, which sounds great, but does not allow them to be inconspicuous.

As the president was speaking, Justice Ginsberg nodded off, and the image of the snoozing justice was telecast by all the major networks. The following morning, Justice Ginsberg received a phone call from her granddaughter who said, “Bubbe, you were sleeping at the State of the Union!”

Justice Ginsberg made no excuses for her nap. Well, actually she did make excuses, two of them. First, she said she and her fellow justices had wine at dinner just before the State of the Union Address, and she admitted that she was “a little tipsy.” So much for sober justices!

And then she added that she had been up all the previous night writing an opinion, bragging, “My pen was hot!”

An all-nighter with a hot pen followed by a bottle of wine! No doubt about it, she needed a nap!

Once again, don’t get the false impression that Justice Ginsberg is lazy or a frail old lady who needs her beauty rest. Remember that prior to her State of the Union slumber party, she had pulled an all-nighter and knocked back a few glasses of vino! That’s not the sign of someone who is ready for a nursing home!

No, like Churchill, Justice Ginsberg is a power napper who will be wide awake for the oral arguments for the rest of the Supreme Court term and will spend a few more all-nighters with her hot pen. Her close friend Justice Scalia (yes, Antonin Scalia and Ruth Bader Ginsberg are in fact very close friends) is blown away by her stamina. According to Gail Collins of The New York Times, Justice Scalia recently witnessed his 81-years-young colleague parasailing. “This little skinny thing” he marveled. “You’d think she would never come down.”
Just as Sir Winston Churchill was no Rip Van Winkle, Justice Ginsberg is no sleeping beauty. She is a very wide-awake brilliant beauty.

And now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to break away. I wasn’t up all night, and my pen has not exactly been hot, but I’ve got to be in Court in about an hour, and if I’m going to be wide awake when I’m there, I need to spend the next 15 minutes sound asleep.

BILL HALTOM is a shareholder with the firm of Lewis Thomason. He is a past president of the Tennessee Bar Association and a past president of the Memphis Bar Association. Read his blog at www.billhaltom.com.