Remembering Wrigley Field

Baseball and I have a tortured history. I found something like redemption and hope in the game as a child. Then time eroded the childlike perception that miracles were possible. Efforts to rekindle the romance with the game fluttered and died in adulthood.
But I was born in Chicago, you see, in the mid-1950s. My first love was, therefore, the Chicago Cubs, a team that seemed jinxed, forever destined to something less than success. It’s been more than a century since the Cubs won the World Series; more than the length of my lifetime since the team even appeared in one.
Can it...
October 27, 2016

2016: The Ironing Board Versus The Blowhard

Trial lawyers know a thing or two about the art of persuasion. We make our living, after all, pitching stories to strangers. In that regard, we are much like politicians. But the similarity between jurors and voters is superficial. The 2016 presidential campaign proves it, and last night’s presidential debate illustrates why.
Who won?
The early polling suggests that Hillary, a woman widely regarded as a liar and untrustworthy, prevailed.
Donald, in the meantime, claims victory, and asserts that even if he is not elected come...
October 23, 2016

The Prosaic Reality of Plea Bargaining

“No man is a hero to his valet,” an old proverb has it. I think of it often when making a difficult recommendation to a client. Folks want their lawyers to be heroes. Sometimes lawyers are able to fulfill that role; more often, especially in the context of criminal plea-bargaining, reality is far less heroic.
Consider the following cases:
A client is accused of murdering his best friend. The decedent was shot to death while sitting in the front seat of a parked car. Next to him in the passenger’s seat was a confederate, someone eager to learn the dark arts of...
October 20, 2016

The Race Card Rears Its Head Again

Judges, despite their robes and the trappings of majesty — who else enters their workplace to the sound of a uniformed lawman commanding “All rise”? — are just like the rest of us. They are often motivated by high i­deals, but, being spun from the same mortal clay as we lesser mortals, their motives can often be venal, even petty.
Most judges crave dispositions. They want the cases on their list of things that need doing, their dockets, to move. Getting between a judge and a closed file can be a risky thing to do. Judicial administrators are closet...
October 19, 2016

Transparency in Plea Bargaining? LOL

October 9, 2016
Connecticut Chief Justice Chase Rogers believes in committees; she also believes in transparency. So I was curious to see what her committee of...

Clowns, Burqas and Other Terrors

October 8, 2016
Let me see if I get this right: Clowns are now a potential sign of a terroristic threat. Have we lost our minds? Or is it mere nerve that we are...

Bitcoin for Legal Fees?

September 26, 2016
I’ve been offered all sorts of things as a fee for my services. My favorite offer was of a house in Mexico. I turned it down, telling the...

Bitcoin and the State of Nature

September 26, 2016
Satoshi Nakamoto.
Remember that name. Whether he actually exists or not is an open question. But there is little doubt Nakamoto’s 2008...

Bitcoin and the State of Nature

September 26, 2016
Satoshi Nakamoto.
Remember that name. Whether he actually exists or not is an open question. But there is little doubt Nakamoto’s 2008...

Bitcoin and the State of Nature

September 26, 2016
Satoshi Nakamoto.
Remember that name. Whether he actually exists or not is an open question. But there is little doubt Nakamoto’s 2008...

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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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