Uncategorized
December 8, 2023 by Joshua Dunlap
I have the distinct honor of participating in a CLE on Monday, December 11, at 4p, with two excellent jurists: Justice Catherine Connors of the Maine Supreme Judicial Court, and Justice William Meade of the Massachusetts Appeals Court. The CLE is being moderated by Dan Winslow of the New England Legal Foundation. Feel free to […]
Read more »
July 26, 2021 by Joshua Dunlap
Any good appellate lawyer, and any good appellate judge, is always learning. One great avenue for professional growth is the Council of Appellate Lawyers, which is the ABA’s unique appellate bench-bar organization. CAL’s mission is to foster a dialogue among federal and state appellate lawyers and judges. (Full disclosure: I am privileged to be the […]
February 7, 2020 by Joshua Dunlap
As loyal readers of this blog already know, Cathy Connors – the former author of this blog and my former colleague here at Pierce Atwood – has moved on to bigger and better things: an appointment to Maine’s Supreme Judicial Court. My hat is off to her for this well-deserved achievement. Her formidable intellect will […]
February 5, 2020 by Cathy Connors
So, as some of my loyal readers may have heard, I am off to other adventures. After 11+ years of beavering away on this blog, commenting on “interesting” decisions emanating from the Maine Supreme Judicial Court, it looks like I will now be participating in issuing those “interesting” opinions. Let’s hope those black robes are […]
December 20, 2019 by Cathy Connors
As our last entry this year before heading off for the holidays, let’s take a look at a recent First Circuit decision in a Maine criminal case with a rare holding that the trial court abused its discretion in an evidentiary ruling, and the error wasn’t harmless. US v. Kilmartin, No. 18-1513 (Dec. 6, 2019). […]
December 4, 2019 by Cathy Connors
The judge I clerked for, John Grady (ND Ill) died this week. I’ve mentioned him in this blog before (From Ulane to Hively, Woman on a wall). He was a great guy, in many ways. In 2015, when he retired from the bench, his former clerks put together a book of letters we wrote to […]
November 20, 2019 by Cathy Connors
Perusing recent opinions, we came upon a bankruptcy case in the First Circuit of some interest, In re: Palladino 17-1334. Steven and Lori Palladino sent their child, Nicole, to Sacred Heart University, a private Roman Catholic university in Connecticut, whose values, according to its web site, include pursuit of truth, promotion of the common good, […]
October 31, 2019 / October 29, 2019 by Cathy Connors
We’re back! Oral argument On to a presentation on oral argument from our friend Mark Fleming at WilmerHale – how can practitioners optimize their performances so judges will want arguments? First, the moot. One point Mark made was the usefulness of having someone there to take notes, since if you are being mooted, you may […]
October 28, 2019 by Cathy Connors
I have just returned from a meeting of the American Academy of Appellate Lawyers in my old stomping grounds, Chicago. It was particularly engaging in terms of subject matter (as well as giving me the opportunity to eat a REAL pizza again). Here’s part one of my take-aways. Storied justice The first session was about […]
October 17, 2019 by Cathy Connors
Yes, it’s been a while – the combination of summer doldrums on the decision-issuing front and busy-ness and vacation frolicking on the part of yours truly. But the appellate courts are all back in session now with the kick off on the first Monday in October by the Supreme Court. So let’s get back to […]
