In re: Andrew McDonald -- Shame on Senate Republicans

Just why the Republican Party is intent on importing the same level of asinine partisan vitriol rampant in Washington, D.C., to Connecticut is a deep, and troubling, mystery. This is a small state. Ideology ought not to trump civility; we actually used to get things done here. But the ideologues want to stop that.
I am referring the opposition among state Senate Republicans to the nomination of Andrew McDonald to the position of Chief Justice of the Connecticut Supreme Court.
McDonald is the choice of outgoing Gov. Danell Malloy, a Democrat, to serve as the...
March 27, 2018

Thank You, Shon Hopwood

Practice law long enough and a certain weariness sets in. It’s more than a function of aging, although that is certainly a factor. But it’s also the accumulated wear and tear of too close an acquaintance with sorrow, anger, fear – the raw emotions spawned by the needs that drive clients to your office. Law offices are not happy places.
So when renewal comes, when grace abounds, you give such thanks as you can. Today I write to thank Shon Hopwood. His memoir, Law Man, is the perfect love story for lawyers wondering whether the race is still worth running.
Hopwood...
March 24, 2018

Dowd Is Out; More Pointless "Donald Drama"

The resignation of Donald Trump’s chief personal lawyer, John Dowd, brings to mind an aphorism often discussed, but rarely publicly acknowledged, among lawyers: “You can lead a client to the courthouse, but you can’t make him think.”
Dowd, it appears, grew weary of preaching prudence to a man who views impudence as among the cardinal virtues.
Trump is at the center of more than the usual firestorm of controversy. As president, he has legal counsel intended to protect the interests of the presidency as an institution. He...
March 22, 2018

#MeToo's Presumption of Victimhood

Burdens of proof matter in the criminal justice and the civil justice systems. In the criminal courts, the state must prove its allegations by the law’s highest standard: proof beyond a reasonable doubt. In the civil system, there is a lesser standard, what the law call’s preponderance of the evidence. No one walks into court, by virtue of merely making an allegation, and gets special status.
Not even people accusing others of sexual assault.
Hence, it makes no sense to call a person a victim merely because they’ve made an...
March 21, 2018

Crying "Foul" After The Yale Rape Case Is Misleading

March 11, 2018
How dare I ask questions about text messages, alcohol consumption and what an accuser wore on the night she claimed she was raped by an...

Call Me, Harvey. I’ll Defend You

October 13, 2017
Not since Meg Ryan’s fake orgasm sitting across a diner’s table from Billy Crystal in “When Harry Met Sally” have we seen...

Bitcoin's China Syndrome

September 19, 2017
All eyes are on China as bitcoin rises and falls on digital exchanges. The Wall Street Journal reports that just this past Friday, Chinese...

Bitcoin Will Outlast J.P. Morgan

September 17, 2017
Bitcoin went on a rollercoaster ride last week, spiking in value on some exchanges just north of $5,000. Then J.P. Morgan CEO Jamie Dimon told the...

USA v. Shkreli: A First Amendment Outrage

September 14, 2017
The First Amendment has for decades been interpreted to protect “inappropriate” speech, a fact well known to anyone who has sat for a bar...

A Suicidal Computer? Was Saint Augustine Right?

July 24, 2017
From Washington, D.C., comes news of the most ingenious proof ever of the existence of God. It comes in the form of an apparent...

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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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