Played by Michael Ensign

Judge Paul Resnick has presided over more cases on Boston Legal than any other judge, with the exception of Judge Clark Brown. He also has the honor of being the first judge mentioned by name in the series. From 1x01 [Head Cases]:

Denny Crane: Who’s the judge?
Tara Wilson: Resnick.
Denny Crane: He’s a schmuck. Alan! Back Tara up. She’s before schmuck Resnick. See if you can get a damn continuance.

Despite this characterization by Denny, Judge Resnick seems like a fair-minded judge and appears to show no particular animosity toward the attorneys of Crane, Poole & Schmidt. He first appeared in 1x03 [Catch And Release] when Alan Shore and his former girlfriend Christine Pauley are attorneys on opposite sides of a sexual harrassment lawsuit. Alan and Christine visited him in chambers, with Alan attempting (in vain) to get Christine removed from the case.

His other trials in Season One included Alan's hypochondria case in episode 1x05 [An Eye For An Eye] and the trial in which Denny and Alan defended a doctor for prescribing unapproved medication in 1x13 [It Girls And Beyond].

In Season Two, he presided over Shirley and Denise's Wicans & Christians vs Halloween trial in 2x06 [Witches of Mass Destruction]. His ruling: The Halloween Pageant will go on as it always has. And I advise both parties to lighten up and remember what Halloween really is all about: the candy!

He also presided over Alan and Denny's euthanasia case in 2x16 [Live Big] and Alan and Chelina Hall's racial profiling case in 2x23 [Race Ipsa].

In his first appearance in Season 3, Judge Resnick is expected to preside over Jerry and Alan's murder trial in episodes 3x08 [Lincoln] and 3x09 [On The Ledge].

Michael Ensign
Michael Ensign's long television career dates back to 1972, when he appeared in the first episode of World War II prisoner of war series Colditz. His numerous credits since then include appearances on all three Star Trek spinoffs, and individual episode appearances on Benson (1982), LA Law (1991), Murphy Brown (1995) and Chicago Hope (1998). He has also had small roles in major films such as Titanic and Seabiscuit. In 2006, he appeared in the independent film 29 Ways To Run, which won several film festival awards.

Michael Ensign at the Internet Movie Database

Episode appearances:
1x03 [Catch And Release]
1x05 [An Eye For An Eye]
1x13 [It Girls And Beyond]
2x06 [Witches Of Mass Destruction]
2x16 [Live Big]
2x23 [Race Ipsa]
3x08 [Lincoln]
3x09 [On The Ledge]