1.   As she took the bench, Wayne did not even give the lawyers a chance to talk before letting them know she would not take their request seriously.

2.   Before taking the bench, Cox practiced corporate law, handling matters ranging from insurance defense work to maritime law.

3.   Before hearing arguments, the judge informed attorneys that he had been a Republican prior to taking the bench, but pledged himself to impartiality.

4.   Bryant, absent the entire first half, emerged from the locker room in uniform and took the bench for the third quarter.

5.   Dudley Bowen took the bench in the case of death row inmate Exzavious Gibson with arm-twisting on his mind.

6.   Ito, criticized over the weekend for letting the trial meander, took stern control the moment he took the bench Tuesday.

7.   Now, he said, he has chosen to take the bench rather than retire.

8.   The malfunction happened, of course, just as Judge Leonard B. Sand of U.S. District Court was taking the bench.

9.   The judge takes the bench ... but something is different.

10.   When Ito takes the bench in the Simpson case, he must set a schedule of motion filing dates and court appearances.