Prosecuting the Prosecutor

Ferguson, Mo., state's attorney Robert McCulloch admits he presented evidence he knew to be false to the grand jury considering whether to charge Darren Wilson with murder or some other offense in the killing of Michael Brown. Disbarment would be an appropriate penalty for this feckless prosecutor.
There was never any doubt in my mind that Wilson would not be prosecuted for a crime. The law authorizes the use of deadly force by police officers in the face of an immanent threat of harm. I've litigated plenty of police death cases and know the odds of success for prosecution or a...
December 24, 2014

Fire Next Time? No. A Fire Drill


I suspect before too long the list of police officers killed by those outraged over the deaths of Eric Garner and Michael Brown will grow. New York’s Wenjian Liu and Rafael Ramos are but the first to fall. Indeed, the day after the Brooklyn officers were assassinated, another officer was shot and killed in Tarpon Springs, Florida.
These deaths accomplish nothing.
Outrage is our new national drug of choice. It stupefies and blinds – a form of self-indulgence that changes nothing.
After the grand jury...
December 23, 2014

Returning to New Haven

Ten years ago, it seemed like a good idea to pack up and leave New Haven. So I did, starting my own law firm and moving my office out to Bethany. I was looking for a little tranquility, I suppose. Although I did not realize how much I would miss the Elm City.
So this week, my office began the process of moving back into the city. We’ll be located not far from the courthouses downtown, on Orange Street, almost within the shadow of the FBI fortress, a brooding sort of mass, encircled by spiked fences, and accessible only with permission. I look at that building and see an occupying...
December 17, 2014

Rolling the Legal Dice in Newtown

Word on the street is that Koskoff, Koskoff & Beider is so wealthy the law firm weighs, rather than counts, its money. I hope that's true, because the fight the firm just picked against Bushmaster and others is going to cost plenty to litigate. Call the expenses of the suit the costs of good intentions.
Ten families of folks killed at the Sandy Hook Elementary School in December 2012 have signed on with the Bridgeport law firm. The targets? Bushmaster, the North Carolina-based manufacturer of the AR-15, a combat weapon; Camfour, a distributor of the weapon; and Riverview Gun...
December 17, 2014

Eric Garner Redux

December 13, 2014
I've managed to offend my friends and delight my critics by asserting that the Staten Island grand jury was correct not to indict New York police...

An Interview at Torture, Inc.

December 11, 2014
In the early 1980s, I had lunch at the faculty house of Columbia University, where I was a young instructor. Although my companion signed in as a...

The Eric Garner Homicide -- A Crime? No

December 5, 2014
Eric Garner paid with his life for making a simple mistake: He played street lawyer when officers tried to arrest him. The time and place to dispute...

The Origin of the Species

December 5, 2014
I’m a little too old for a mid-life crisis, but not too old, I hope, to admit that I’ve been wandering far too long in the dark wood of...

Obama's Disappointing Response to Ferguson

December 2, 2014
It will take more than the Band-Aid President Barack Obama offers to staunch the bleeding wound caused by the police violence in Ferguson, Mo. The...

The Market in Human Souls

November 30, 2014
I sometimes wonder whether the truth really matters at all, especially in criminal courtrooms, where we play at the solemn work of justice while...

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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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