The Secret Games the Government Plays

We call trials a search for the truth, but the fact remains that what juries see at trial is often only the tip of the iceberg. Just beneath the surface, a massive and sometimes ugly reality supports the public display of testimony presented in open court. This is especially so in criminal cases, where something less than the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, is not just tolerated, but expected, even condoned.
The law not only tolerates this, the law encourages deception, by granting privileges, immunities and secrecy to the very government we naively believe to operate in the...
September 25, 2013

Best Interest of the Children?

Against my better judgment, I’ve once again wandered into the family courts in yet another post-judgment war about who gets to raise a broken couple’s children. Once again, I am dumbstruck as I watch experts opine about what is in the best interest of the children. The sheer wastefulness of it all is breath-taking.

My client has custody of his three small children. His ex-wife, who absented herself from the children’s lives, and from the state, has re-emerged, a new husband in tow, and now wants greater access to be a more active mom. She strikes me as...
September 20, 2013

Prosecuting Cops and States of Mind

First a note of warning: This is a column that will make you happy never to have attended law school, and it might very well make your head hurt, an irony, considering that what we’re about to discuss is how the law treats states of mind.
Two East Haven cops, David Cari and Dennis Spaulding, will face a jury of twelve in a Hartford federal courtroom next week. They are accused of violating the civil rights of Hispanic persons in East Haven, and will be on public display for more than a month. What you won’t see, what you’ll never see, is the mental state of either...
September 19, 2013

The Case To Bomb Syria Has Not Been Made

Reason is, and always has been, and shall forever remain, the slave of the passions. And no passion inflames the heart quite like sympathy. We love those with whom we identify, taking their suffering on as our own. Hence, the heartbreaking and enraging quality of photographs of dead children.
Hence the impulse by President Barack Obama and Secretary of State John Kerry to do something drastic to punish Syria for the death by poison gas of 1,400 civilians, including 400 children.
But gratuitous moralism is dangerous, even foolish, foreign policy.
Just who is to blame for...
September 12, 2013

SPDs: Beware the New Con Job

September 6, 2013
I don’t recall how many years ago it was that I pulled the plug on my participation on the federal Criminal Justice Act panel, but I do recall...

When The Police Come Knocking ...

September 5, 2013
There must be few things more embarrassing than a policeman’s knock on the door during a domestic dispute. It’s bad enough that...

Time To Close A Few Law Schools?

August 28, 2013
We’re awash in lawyers. There are roughly 40 of them for every 10,000 people in the United States. Connecticut ranks third among the states...

Time To Close A Few Law Schools?

August 28, 2013
POSTED: 08/28/13, 6:09 PM EDT |



We’re awash in lawyers. There are roughly 40 of them for every 10,000 people...

The Vanishing Trial, Revisted

August 23, 2013
It’s right there in the Declaration of Independence. The colonies rebelled and cut loose from England because King George III was...

Law and Oncology

August 16, 2013
I’ve become preoccupied lately with the education of young doctors. Doctors must be better equipped than lawyers to deal with death and...

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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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