"He could combine the fairness of Solomon with the friendliness of a neighbor next door," says Archie Robinson, a civil defense attorney, who first met Thomas 30 years ago.

Robinson recalls that Thomas wrote him a note once during a trial that said he knew Robinson played baseball at Columbia University and had a side that was not all serious.

"It was that nice human touch that really distinguished him as a judge," Robinson says.

Another longtime associate, retired attorney Dick Mansfield, echoes a similar opinion.

"I was most impressed by his humanity," he says. "He looked for the real story and worked to put everyone at ease in the case."

But Robinson says Thomas' sympathy didn't sway him when it came to a case.

"He wasn't pigeonholed as a plaintiff's or a defendant's judge," Robinson says. "He was a judge's judge."

Thomas, who laughs easily and talks with rapid-fire enthusiasm, says he wasn't always disciplined enough for the judicial bench.

A sporadically studious undergraduate student, Thomas didn't know what career to pursue. But the Korean War solved that problem temporarily. He joined the Marine Corps the day after he graduated from Stanford University in 1951. Then a second lieutenant, he led a platoon during the war.

"Being in the Marine Corps made me more serious and taught me how to get things done," the 74-year-old says. "I'm one of those guys who has a tear drop when they play the Marine Corps hymn."

After returning to San Jose in 1953, he enrolled in Santa Clara University's School of Law. As a newly minted lawyer he accepted an offer to work at James Boccardo's law firm on The Alameda, but left a year later to go solo.

"I was very naïve," says Thomas, who opened his practice in 1957. "And as a young lawyer, I had a very quiet practice."

He shared his office with two other beginning lawyers, forming Thomas, James and Pendleton. Thanks to another firm that was too busy to take on some civil cases, business picked up, Thomas says.

"The cases were not moneymakers, but they were good experience," says Thomas, adding that he worked on many personal-injury cases.

By 1960 the practice had grown, and the firm moved to a more prominent office on Lincoln Avenue, opening branches in Cambrian Park and Saratoga, he says.

Thomas also became active in the Santa Clara County Bar Association and says becoming president of the association in 1971 was a factor in his appointment to the municipal bench in 1975 by then California Gov. Ronald Reagan.

He adds that he'd always admired judges and becoming one was a "natural progression." He continued climbing the ladder when he was elevated to Santa Clara County Superior Court judge in 1982 by former California Gov. George Deukmejian.

Although hearing cases was his daily routine, each one was different, with some affecting him more than others. Thomas says the case that had the most emotional impact on him was a particular personal-injury case; the plaintiff's brain had been damaged. The prosecuting attorney put his client on the stand and asked him how he was doing, Thomas says. When the plaintiff said he was doing great and had a good job, Thomas wondered if the attorney had hurt his chances for winning. But when the attorney called the man's doctor to the stand, the doctor testified that his patient wasn't able to work, and that "shook me," Thomas says.

"Good lawyers reveal the obvious," he says.

Thomas has observed that the "quiet, gracious" lawyers can be very effective, while the "blustery hotshots" were generally not winners.

And juries have also impressed him.

"They have a lot of sense and can see through personal-injury claims," he says.

Thomas remembers a case about a slip and fall that was a slam-dunk verdict in his mind. But the jury went out and deliberated all day.

When he asked the jury forewoman why it took so long, she said they had decided the verdict in three minutes. But every juror had a story to tell about a time that they had slipped and fallen.

"It's human nature to want to share your story, I guess," he says.

Although some juries draw the verdict out, Thomas says he was struck with the straightforward thinking of a jury in Santa Cruz. He worked part time in Santa Cruz and San Benito counties after retiring from his full-time judgeship in Santa Clara County in 1991. The plaintiff was suing the county after driving over the edge of the road, alleging that there were not enough signs.

The foreman summarized the verdict as, "'If you drive on these roads, you need to be careful,'" Thomas says.

With less time in the courtroom since his retirement, Thomas has devoted himself to keeping alive the memory of previous local legal professionals' personalities and history. A fascination with people and a curiosity about how the court systems have grown led him to research and write two books, on the California Judges Association and the San Benito County courts.

Thomas is also Santa Clara County Bench and Bar Historical Society president and is capturing oral histories of retired attorneys like Victor Beauzay.

"His professionalism is remarkable," Beauzay says. "He's also very friendly."

Mansfield agrees. "He's a ray of sunshine. He has a real interest in talking to people and is truly interested in what you have to say."

Having realized he loved to write when he was writing legal columns as the county bar association president in the 1970s, Thomas turned to books.

"After I retired I realized that newspaper writing disappears, but books are preserved in libraries," he says. Although he never considered himself a historian, his own interest and enthusiasm drove him to research local courts' histories.

"It was a blast," he says. "No one else was writing about it."

He has now written a third book. His newest book is a history of his alma mater, Santa Clara University's law school, From Promise to Prominence.

Santa Clara University School of Law faculty professor and former dean Gerald Uelmen says, "It's a delightful excursion through 90 years of history. I read it cover to cover."

Thomas calls it his best work to date because, he says, he wanted it to be lively, so he included anecdotes and photos that captured the "flavor and personality of individuals," he says.

"He loves history," Uelmen says. "His passion for it really comes through."

And while many people settle down to a nice, quiet retirement, Uelmen calls Thomas "a real bundle of energy" with his numerous research, interviewing and writing projects with the historical society.

And he says Thomas' personality makes him able to engage people.

"He's very approachable," Uelmen says. "Some judges are rather aloof, but he's very down-to-earth."

"From Promise to Prominence" is sold at Willow Glen Books at 1330 Lincoln Ave., the Santa Clara University Bookstore and History San Jose at 1650 Senter Road.