MCKINLEYVILLE — Robert M. Illman wears a lot of hats and, occasionally, a sword.
To be clear, the U.S. magistrate judge doesn’t actually strap the weapon to his belt. Instead, in an old tradition he places it on his desk when he hears a maritime case. This is to signify he is now operating under the venerable and somewhat unusual rules of maritime law, a role that goes by the poetically dated term “sitting in admiralty.... (continued)