Howard J Bashman

December 05, 2022 | The Legal Intelligencer

By tradition, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court—the oldest appellate court in the United States in continuous operation—does not permit rebuttal oral argument. To my knowledge, Pennsylvania's highest court's prohibition on rebuttal oral argument is highly unusual if not unique.

By Howard J. Bashman

6 minute read

November 07, 2022 | The Legal Intelligencer

Lately, far too often I come across an opinion that starts with some pop culture or even historical reference before transitioning into the all-too-real facts of the case at hand, attempting to draw some parallel that the opinion's author finds apt.

By Howard J. Bashman

6 minute read

October 10, 2022 | The Legal Intelligencer

Due to the sudden and unexpected passing of Pennsylvania Chief Justice Max Baer, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court could be forced to operate with only six justices until January 2024, after voters select a new justice in the November 2023 general election.

By Howard J. Bashman

6 minute read

September 12, 2022 | The Legal Intelligencer

Both the Philadelphia-based U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit and Pennsylvania state appellate courts have been open for in-person oral argument for quite a while now, and those courts also now once again allow members of the public to observe the arguments.

By Howard J. Bashman

6 minute read

August 08, 2022 | The Legal Intelligencer

This month, it's time for me to review the bad news. I now turn to summarize the five cases on review from other courts in which the Supreme Court disagreed with the Third Circuit's approach last term.

By Howard J. Bashman

6 minute read

July 11, 2022 | The Legal Intelligencer

This month's column will summarize five cases: the one case on direct review from the Third Circuit and the four cases in which the Supreme Court sided with the Third Circuit's approach entirely or mostly.

By Howard J. Bashman

6 minute read

June 13, 2022 | The Legal Intelligencer

As summer nears, this month's column will focus on a bunch of appellate-related developments that are noteworthy but not deserving of an entire column's worth of attention.

By Howard J. Bashman

5 minute read

April 04, 2022 | The Legal Intelligencer

My focus today is on the time that it takes the Supreme Court to decide whether to grant a petition for allowance of appeal, that court's main type of discretionary review.

By Howard J. Bashman

5 minute read

March 07, 2022 | The Legal Intelligencer

Not surprisingly, appellate law and practice, and the U.S. Supreme Court in particular, are the subject of a burgeoning number of podcasts.

By Howard J. Bashman

6 minute read

February 14, 2022 | The Legal Intelligencer

From the appellant's perspective, the importance of having a strong reply brief on appeal cannot be overstated.

By Howard J. Bashman

7 minute read