(Bloomberg) -- The trial of Bill Hwang, a onetime wizard of Wall Street, would have to wait. US District Judge Alvin Hellerstein had news.

“I’m a great-grandfather,” Hellerstein, 90, announced from the bench, in the middle of a cross-examination by the defense.

Surprise and confusion read on the expression of every lawyer, juror and reporter in the courtroom.

“Can I show the baby?” the judge wondered. “It’s a gorgeous baby.” He turned his phone toward the crowd.

A collective Aaawww! went up. Jurors applauded. Even Hwang, the head of Archegos Capital Management now seated at the defense table, managed a smile.  

For the past seven weeks inside the courtroom in downtown Manhattan, Hellerstein – not quite the oldest judge serving on the federal bench today, but close – has presided with idiosyncratic style in the case of United States v. Sung Kook “Bill” Hwang. 

The trial has required putting a jury of 12 New Yorkers through a crash course on all things Wall Street — with a parade of witnesses explaining in grueling detail how the enigmatic trader built one of the world’s great fortunes – only to have it obliterated in a blink.

As long hours of testimony have veered from security-based swaps to margin calls, the nonagenarian judge has emerged as the voice of the tired, the bored and the plain confused. This might be the Wall Street trial of the decade, but Hellerstein wants to keep it moving. A verdict could come any day after July 8, when the lawyers are expected to give their closing arguments.

Time and again, with the sound of his native Bronx in his voice, Hellerstein has cautioned lawyers not to try jurors’ patience – or his.

“The jury looks like it’s bored to tears,” Hellerstein observed during a break in the cross-examination of former Archegos head trader William Tomita.

“We’re going on the same point over and over and over and over again,” he harumphed as a prosecutor questioned the same witness. 

“I think you should stick to what’s important, please. It’s a long case,” the judge has advised.

Hwang has been charged with fraud and market manipulation in the implosion of Archegos, his secretive family office. His wild wagers saddled banks with more than $10 billion in losses. Hwang has pleaded not guilty. Former Archegos chief financial officer Patrick Halligan also is being tried on some of the counts.

Hellerstein will be the one to determine how long, if at all, the former multi-billionaire will face behind bars if the jury finds him guilty. 

Despite the mind-boggling sums involved – Hwang’s $36 billion fortune was wiped out in 72 hours — Hellerstein has projected a seen-it-all vibe. He certainly has a long view. When he graduated from law school, in 1956, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was bumping along at 500. When he was nominated to the federal bench, in 1998, index was around 9,000. Today, it’s hovering near 40,000.

Federal judges have a lot of leeway in running their courtrooms, but Hellerstein has been unusually assertive given the complexity of the Archegos case. He’s lectured the lawyers, questioned the witnesses and, at times, thrown just about everyone off their stride.

“Moving things along is a high art among judges,” said Steven Lubet, emeritus professor at Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law.

Hellerstein hasn’t been shy about giving the lawyers in his courtroom a little great-grandfatherly advice about lawyering.

About a week into the trial, Assistant US Attorney Alexandra Rothman told Hellerstein she would heed his advice and change her approach to questioning.

“I like your questions,” the judge assured her. “You’re a very good lawyer.”

“I’m working on it,” Rothman replied.

Barry Berke, a prominent defense lawyer who was chief counsel to the US House of Representatives in the first impeachment trial of President Donald Trump and is now representing Hwang, has gotten a few Hellersteinian tips too.

After the judge suggested Berke tweak a question, Berke promptly complied.

“Thank you, judge. You’re right, of course, you’re right,” Berke said. “You’re always right, but you’re absolutely right on this one.”

“Just a moment,” the judge laughed, “I want to write that down.”

Granted, the lawyers have pushed back at times, as lawyers tend to do. But Hellerstein has kept on going. More than once, he’s taken to questioning witnesses himself only to sustain objections to his own questions.

After long, complicated testimony about total return swaps, Hellerstein interrupted. Did the jury understand all this mumbo jumbo? The judge had a few questions himself.

“I hope you will come out of this understanding what a total swap return is,” Hellerstein told the jurors.

“Thank you, your honor,” the prosecutor said.

“I wonder when attorneys say, ‘Thank you, your Honor,’ if they really mean it,” the judge replied.  

--With assistance from Ava Benny-Morrison and Sridhar Natarajan.

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