Showing off or good writing and telling the difference

Third Circuit Judge Stephanos Bibas warned of "judges gone wild" in a speech before Harvard Fed Soc. He called out "the show off, [for whom] it seems to be all about the judge's musings, even the judge's ambitions to be notice." Jonathan Adler comments.

Coincidentally, Eleventh Circuit Judge Adalberto Jordan presented FIU's Judicial Lecture on Wednesday. The conversation turned to writing style and when a "turn of phrase" is warranted and useful. As an example, Jordan wrote the majority opinion declaring invalid Florida's "Docs v. Glocks" law prohibiting doctors from inquiring about the presence of guns in their patients' homes. Speaking of the plaintiffs' reasonable fear of discipline, he wrote that doctors "who are looking down the barrel of the Board's disciplinary gun, are not required to guess whether the chamber is loaded." Is that showing off and playing to Twitter? Or is it good writing? Is the answer, as Jordan added, you can't force it or overdo it?

Update: Richard Bales (Northern Kentucky) shares a piece he wrote some time ago on prudence in using references--use references and in ways that are self-explanatory and remember that the point is to "lead your reader to a deeper understanding of your topic-not to impress the judge with your wit or your knowledge of cultural arcana."