Green Haven's Legacy Foreseen

April 16, 2024 – Connecticut lost a town last night, but it did not lose either territory or population. Two suburban entities simply merged into a new, larger, town: New Hamden.
“The move was inevitable, really,” said New Hamden’s first mayor, Jane Appleby. “Consolidation of services will make delivery of all social services more cost effective.”
New Hamden is the merger of two former Connecticut towns, Hamden and Bethany. It was a move foreseen a decade ago when Bethany, formerly a semi-rural enclave midway...
April 12, 2014

No Trial Tax? Get Real, Judge.

I was in the chambers of a judge I respect a great deal trying to reach a plea bargain in a complex case the other day. Well before trial, he made an offer of a given period of years in a case involving many alleged victims. After a trial in several of the cases, a trial in which my client was convicted, we were trying to settle the case all over again. Suddenly, the judge's recommendation was that my client serve double the time initially offered to resolve the same universe of cases.
"How did my client suddenly become deserving of twice as much punishment?" I asked. I told the judge...
April 11, 2014

SWAT Teams to Search for Documents?

The lawyer was at the very least honest, even if the words he spoke were chilling.
“Does the Internal Revenue Service take the position that every time its agents search a location for documents the agents can do so in Kevlar jackets with guns drawn?” The judge was asking the question in a tone that suggested the lawyer ought to be careful in responding, so the lawyer did what unskilled advocates sometimes do — he evaded.
The scene was a federal courtroom in Bridgeport. The occasion was a hearing on a lawsuit filed against the commissioner of the Internal Revenue...
April 10, 2014

Why We Lost the War on Terror

I was startled to learn that manipulation of federal "no-fly" lists takes place simply as a means of recruiting potential informants: Young Moslem men are from time-to-time placed on the lists by federal authorities and then given a choice: Want to be treated as no threat? Then act like one. Tell us about your friends at the Mosque. We'll let you fly if you cooperate.
Many of you reading this won't be outraged the practice. We're at war with some part of Islam right? We need to take extraordinary measures in a war without end.
Arun Kundnani's The Muslims are Coming! (Verso, New York,...
April 5, 2014

Let's Rethink Our Love of Prisons

April 2, 2014
Delaware Judge Jan Jurden just helped to destroy the market in human souls, and for that, I am grateful. She refused to send a self-confessed child...

A Note to New Lawyers

March 31, 2014
A friend asked me to write something to present to new members of the bar in Alabama this week. Here it is:
You are about to embark on a career...

Defending Isn't About Morals

March 30, 2014
A reader wrote the other day to ask whether I ever get upset with a client for lying to me. What would I do, she inquired, if a client told me he was...

Criminal Defense Lawyers Need Not Apply

March 29, 2014
Word that U.S. District Judge Janet Arterton will soon take senior status makes this a good time to ask Senators Richard Blumenthal and Christopher...

Why Not Record Cops At Work?

March 19, 2014
I will never understand why police officers don’t embrace video recording of their work. But they don’t. Whether in the interrogation...

The Chief Lays An Egg

March 13, 2014
You know the state's Judicial Branch is bleeding when the chief justice takes to writing opinion pieces. I am not referring to legal opinions, mind...

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Taking Back the Courts
Norm Pattis Taking Back the Courts

The Wizard of Oz was one of my favorites movies as a kid. Little did I know judges were so much like the wizard, hiding behind empty trappings of power. This book tells you things you need to know about what really goes on in court. Read it, weep, and then demand that the courts do better.

In the Trenches
Norm Pattis In the Trenches

Plenty of lawyers write about the law, but few who write try cases. Judge for yourself whether I talk the talk and walk the walk in this collection of occasional essays about life in the law's trenches.

Juries and Justice
Norm Pattis Juries and Justice

How prepared are you to take seriously the notion that 'we the people' are, in fact, sovereign? Discover the secret, and unused, power of jurors. 'Ask why; then nullify.'

Norm Pattis

About Norm

Norm Pattis is a Connecticut based trial lawyer focused on high stakes criminal cases and civil right violations. He is a veteran of more than 150 jury trials, many resulting in acquittals for people charged with serious crimes, multi-million dollar civil rights and discrimination verdicts, and scores of cases favorably settled.

© Norm Pattis is represented by Elite Lawyer Management, managing agents for Exceptional American Lawyers
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