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January 30, 2019 by Heather Stevens
That’s the date that the First Circuit will be holding its next federal criminal appellate practice seminar in Maine. (Announcement) It’s open to all, free and you get CLE. If you are a civil practitioner, and because of that you are thinking there is nothing useful to be had from this seminar, you are wrong. […]
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December 21, 2018 by Heather Stevens
Sometimes around the holiday season, parents must use special skills to explain why Santa won’t be giving them that $500,000 drone or the Tesla they want. Are similar skills needed to say no to a judge in an oral argument when they say something with which you disagree? Here’s a discussion about that topic. How […]
December 4, 2018 by Heather Stevens
On December 3, the First Circuit (Judges Torruella, Thompson and Kayatta) heard another appeal emanating from the much-litigated federal Promesa legislation enacted in 2016 addressing Puerto Rico’s restructuring (i.e., essentially bankruptcy). A LOT of money is involved – Puerto Rico’s public debt exceeds $70 billion. So each side brought out big guns. You may have […]
November 27, 2018 by Heather Stevens
Here in the land of appellate law, there’s nothing more we like than diving into an area of dusty, obscure legal procedure. The land of ancient writs is one of those areas, and last week the First Circuit issued one of the more obscure of those ancient writs – an “advisory mandamus.” In re Grand […]
November 9, 2018 by Heather Stevens
With yet another mass shooting this week, it’s timely to discuss a recent (Nov. 2) decision from the First Circuit, Gould v. Morgan. This involved a constitutional challenge to the Massachusetts firearms licensing statute, as implemented in Boston and Brookline. The district court upheld the statute and implementation, as did the panel, Judges Thompson, Selya […]
October 29, 2018 / October 26, 2018 by Heather Stevens
I (a reader suggested that I stop using the royal we) attended the federal judicial conference at the Samoset last week. The topic du jour was social media, so that was the new. The conference closed with observations from two district court judges, Judges Hornby and Singal, who have been on the bench for many […]
October 17, 2018 by Heather Stevens
We have previously blogged – many times- on the question when one must file a cross-appeal to assert alternative grounds to support a judgment: Cross-Appeals again; Alternate grounds support a judgment? Cross-Appeal!; New rules; When in doubt, cross it out; Follow up. The Law Court recently issued a decision that we hope definitively answers this […]
September 28, 2018 by Heather Stevens
The Supreme Court has granted certiorari this term to re-consider the ripeness requirement for a claim for just compensation, first articulated in in Williamson County Regional Planning Commission v. Hamilton Bank, 473 U.S. 172 (1985). Knick v. Town of Scott, Pennsylvania, No. 17-647. Interestingly, the Court decided to go right to the jugular, deciding whether the […]
September 24, 2018 by Heather Stevens
Autumn is in the air, which means the Law Court’s fancy turns to riding the circuit, visiting high schools in its annual October Tour O’Maine to hear argument. This year’s crop of appeals appears fairly pedestrian, except for one scheduled to be heard on October 25, at the Wells High School: State of Maine v. […]
September 11, 2018 by Heather Stevens
If you take off your jacket on your front porch while a police officer is in your driveway following up on a suspected motor vehicle violation, does that mean the police can search that jacket if you’re wearing a sleeveless blouse underneath and the temperature is 34 degrees? Four SJC Justices upheld the search; three […]
