Blog Posts


Forgiving Government White Collar Crime

I'll bet a lot of folks charged with federal white collar crimes are feeling more than a little betrayed today. That's because the government has bared its teeth at claims of private wrongdoing while turning a blind eye to the suspected criminals in its midst.
John C. Yoo and Jay S. Bybee...

Joe Stack: Too Small To Succeed?

What happens when the reality of people's lives becomes detached from institutions attempting to govern? In isolated cases, we diagnose psychosis and call for medication. And we label some behavior deviant and prosecute it as criminal. But what happens when there is wholesale dissonance? When the...

Make Lawmakers Count Cost of Overcriminalization

Are we prepared, as a society, to pay more than lip service to the presumption of innocence? If we are, then it's time to we offered to pay for the legal defense of anyone accused of a crime. Anything less amounts to the most regressive tax of all, a tax which devastates the middle class while...

Make Lawmakers Count Cost of Overcriminalization

Are we prepared, as a society, to pay more than lip service to the presumption of innocence? If we are, then it's time to we offered to pay for the legal defense of anyone accused of a crime. Anything less amounts to the most regressive tax of all, a tax which devastates the middle class while...

18B War In New York?

If there is a lawyer alive in New York City surviving on $75 per hour in legal fees, he's probably selling pencils on the side and sleeping in the IRT subway. A ten hour day at such a rate yields $750; a five day week would produce $3,750 at such rates. You can't pay the rent, a secretary,...

18B War In New York?

If there is a lawyer alive in New York City surviving on $75 per hour in legal fees, he's probably selling pencils on the side and sleeping in the IRT subway. A ten hour day at such a rate yields $750; a five day week would produce $3,750 at such rates. You can't pay the rent, a secretary,...

Ake's Not About The Middle Class

While the United States Supreme Court has held that the indigent are entitled both to representation when charged with a crime and to the services of certain experts, those guarantees ring hollow to the middle and lower-middle classes.
Ake v. Oklahoma, 460 U.S. 68 (1985), held that when the...

Lawyers Can Choose; Can The Middle Class?

One thing that attracts me to the criminal law is the sheer romance of it all. Just me and my wits standing between my client and catastrophe. "Bring it on," I say, although in the well of the court, a judge's steely eyes replace the glare of high noon, and thinking fast is more important than...

A Nice Tribute To Tony Serra

John Kindley over at People v. State has named the living lawyer who best exemplifies the ideal of a crusader standing tall for the accused. Kindley's choice? J. Tony Serra. Check out People v. State: http://www.peoplevstate.com/.
Serra is a legend. He may well be the best people's lawyer...

Lawyers Can Choose; Can The Middle Class?

One thing that attracts me to the criminal law is the sheer romance of it all. Just me and my wits standing between my client and catastrophe. "Bring it on," I say, although in the well of the court, a judge's steely eyes replace the glare of high noon, and thinking fast is more important than...

© Norm Pattis is represented by Elite Lawyer Management, managing agents for Exceptional American Lawyers
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