Glossary
Bench
The raised desk or platform at the front of a courtroom where the judge sits. By extension, "the bench" can refer to the judiciary as a whole, or to a particular judge.
When someone says a case is being decided "from the bench," they mean the judge issued the ruling on the spot during the hearing, rather than taking it under advisement and writing it up later. "Approaching the bench" is when lawyers walk up to talk to the judge quietly, out of the jury's hearing.
A "bench trial" is a trial decided by the judge alone, with no jury.