No Opening Statemenst! -- WTF?

It surprises most people to learn that in the state courts of Connecticut, judges almost never permit opening statements in criminal cases. Lawyers get a chance to give them in state civil cases, however. And openings are permitted in both civil and criminal cases in the federal courts. Such are the vagaries of federalism.
Opening statements are a chance for lawyers to tell jurors what to expect at trial, giving a jury some sense of what to focus on in the days and weeks to come. I don’t think we do jurors any favors dropping them into a trial without any sense of what the issues...
July 25, 2014

"Uncertain Justice" and the Roberts Court

Among the many defining errors I've made along life's way is my public and open scorn for law professors. Those who can't do, teach, and those who can't teach in a traditional discipline such as history, philosophy or even economics, teach law, I've said. I've been willfully blind to what scholars can contribute to a practitioner's understanding of the law.
So I confess to having read Laurence Tribe's most recent book on the Supreme Court, "Uncertain Justice," with profit. Tribe, a Harvard law professor and long-time liberal favorite for appointment to the high court, writes about the...
July 20, 2014

Why Defend?

"I know that a certain percentage of folks I send to prison are, in fact, innocent," he said. "I just don't know how to identify who those folks are."
"Then how can you do what you do?" I asked.
"I believe in the adversarial system," he replied. "If you do your job, then the risk of my making a mistake is minimized."
The speaker was a senior prosecutor here in Connecticut. We were discussing why he was deciding to take a case to trial, a case in which I was persuaded my client was not guilty. I won't name the prosecutor or his jurisdiction for fear he'd never speak candidly...
July 19, 2014

Rowland II -- Is Voir Dire at Side Bar Even Legal?

Some contend that trials, especially criminal trials, are won or lost during jury selection. Although jury selection is intended merely to assure that litigants get a fair trial, jury consultants and savvy lawyers spend a great deal of time trying to frame the questions they ask jurors so as to predispose jurors to see the evidence their way, a process known as “indoctrination.”
One would think, therefore, that a judge would take special pains to make sure that jury selection is open to the public. If the game is won or lost at hello, shouldn’t the public get a chance...
July 9, 2014

No Muzzle Needed for Judge Kopf

July 8, 2014
Richard Kopf, a U.S. District Court judge in Nebraska, writes a blog. The other day, he vented about the Supreme Court's recent decision in Hobby...

Happy Fourth, Sort Of ...

July 3, 2014
Over the many years I've written this column – I think it is now 14, but who is counting? – I've taken pride in never missing a week....

Can the Middle Class Afford Justice?

July 2, 2014
Despite the fact that I spend as much time as I can in courtrooms, I still enjoy reading fiction about the law and lawyering. I worry always about...

Dr. Wang: A Fool for a Client?

June 27, 2014
A lawyer representing himself, the saying goes, has a fool for a client. So what of a physician who decides to represent himself in a high-stakes...

A Closer Look At Plea Bargaining

June 21, 2014
I've noticed a certain uneasiness in the chambers of several judges. They don't like talking about plea bargaining in any public way. Indeed, in one...

Plea Bargaining as a Pathological Practice

June 20, 2014
One of the best scenes in “The Wizard of Oz” is when Toto, Dorothy’s dog, pulls back the curtain on the Great Oz, exposing a...

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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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