EXOD47 Judah ben Tabbai and Simeon ben Shatah received the tradition from them [the above Sages]. Judah ben Tabbai said: [When sitting as a judge] do not act as a lawyer; and when the parties to a lawsuit are standing before you, regard both as wicked, in the wrong; but when they have departed from your presence, regard them both as innocent, as they have submitted to the judgment. Pirkei Avot, Perek I mIshnah 8. The judge should initially adopt a skeptical attitude toward all claims, maintaining his suspicion. The claims of all parties should be considered questionable. Should he rather be soft-minded and impressionable, he will end up by believing everybody and indorsing conflicting claims. ... Once the trial is over, however, and the decision rendered is accepted, then regard them both as righteous. Do not dwell on the fact that one of the litigants attempted to possess something which according to the judgment was not his. Do not retroactively condemn the man because he has been found in the wrong. He might be wrong due to honest error, rather than wicked. The point is that both have now accepted the decision. Both have now placed themselves under the law. Both are righteous. Frequently, of course, the principals in a lawsuit continue to argue even after the decision has been handed down. They do not accept the judgment as a reflection of the truth of the matter. This could well be the meaning of the mishnah's words, "when the two… stand before you": after the judgment is given, they stand and argue. In such instances the litigants forfeit their right to be considered estimable. "Regard them as wicked." Yet another sense lies in this directive to "regard them both as wicked." There is a prima facie impropriety about being involved in a lawsuit to begin with. If both are genuinely pious, they would long ago have reached a compromise. Neither would insist on the letter of the law; they would rather each forgo some of his own rights. When Moses saw two Hebrews quarreling, at once "he said to the wicked one, Why do you smite your fellow?" [this verse]. Now, how did Moses know which of the two was in the wrong? But perhaps the answer is that if a quarrel persists there must be an element of wrongness in both the parties.