Howard J Bashman

June 10, 2014 | The Legal Intelligencer

The sluggish economy and declining tax revenues have caused legislators in Harrisburg to consider proposals to reduce the size of Pennsylvania's state government in various respects. One of the more aggressive proposals recently in the news envisions high-profile cuts to each of the three branches of state government.

By Howard J. Bashman

6 minute read

May 13, 2014 | The Legal Intelligencer

The U.S. Supreme Court currently has a 5-4 conservative majority on many politically and socially controversial issues, and the court may only be one additional conservative vote away from approving significant limitations on abortion rights. As a result, a number of liberal commentators have begun to clamor for Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg to retire from the court at the end of this term, before midterm elections to the U.S. Senate occur this fall, when the number of Senate seats held by Democrats may decrease.

By Howard J. Bashman

6 minute read

April 08, 2014 | The Legal Intelligencer

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit is about to lose another giant from its ranks, as Senior Judge Ruggero J. Aldisert announced recently that he is planning to retire entirely from judicial service in August. Aldisert joined the Third Circuit in July 1968, appointed by President Lyndon B. Johnson, and thus Aldisert will have served on the court for more than 46 years when he steps down this summer.

By Howard J. Bashman

6 minute read

March 11, 2014 | The Legal Intelligencer

When I entered the private practice of law in 1991 following a two-year clerkship for a judge serving on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, I remember being told by someone far more experienced that someday it will seem like second nature to dictate the contents of a brief into a Dictaphone or mini tape recorder. At that time, I was part of a new generation of lawyers who grew up with computers and learned to write by typing the contents of a document right onto an empty page in a computer's word processing program.

By Howard J. Bashman

7 minute read

February 11, 2014 | The Legal Intelligencer

The lawyer who remarks to the news media assembled on the courthouse steps that he or she will take the case to the highest court in the land to overturn a client's loss appears much more frequently in fictional depictions than in reality.

By Howard J. Bashman

7 minute read

January 14, 2014 | The Legal Intelligencer

On Wednesday, I will have the pleasure of orally arguing two entirely separate appeals before the same three-judge panel of the Superior Court of Pennsylvania. Although arguing two separate appeals on the same day remains a relative rarity for me and perhaps most other attorneys, I have now done this enough times that I can offer the following insights.

By Howard J. Bashman

8 minute read

December 10, 2013 | The Legal Intelligencer

The issues or questions presented for review are at the heart of any appeal. The appellant (the party taking the appeal) gets the first chance to frame the issues for an appellate court's consideration in the appellant's opening brief. The appellee (the party opposing the appeal) then has an opportunity to reframe the issues, and perhaps to add additional issues, in its brief.

By Howard J. Bashman

7 minute read

November 12, 2013 | The Legal Intelligencer

Instead of focusing on only a single subject, this month's column reviews a series of recent developments likely to be of interest to appellate practitioners.

By Howard J. Bashman

6 minute read

July 14, 2008 | The Legal Intelligencer

The U.S. Supreme Court, in its last term, issued 67 signed opinions in argued cases. None of those cases reached the Supreme Court directly from the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

By Howard J. Bashman

7 minute read

June 09, 2008 | The Legal Intelligencer

To preserve certain issues for appellate review after a civil trial, it is necessary to file post-trial motions. The need to file post-trial motions to preserve certain issues for appeal applies, to varying degrees, in both the Pennsylvania state court system and the federal court system.

By Howard J. Bashman

6 minute read