Howard J Bashman

April 30, 2007 | Law.com

Concerns about free speech ordinarily lead courts to refrain from prohibiting, in advance, the dissemination of libelous speech or defamatory remarks. But there's an exception to everything. In this commentary, appellate litigator Howard J. Bashman looks at a recent decision that found judges can, in some instances, enjoin individuals from repeating statements that were declared defamatory at trial.

By Howard J. Bashman

5 minute read

July 09, 2007 | Law.com

Appellate litigator Howard J. Bashman examines a recent 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals decision involving a sports fan who had challenged the lawfulness of pat-down searches of ticket-holders arriving at Tampa Bay Buccaneers home games. The federal appeals court held that the plaintiff had voluntarily consented to the searches by using his season tickets. Bashman concludes that the 11th Circuit dropped the ball in this case.

By Howard J. Bashman

5 minute read

February 06, 2006 | Law.com

With so much media attention focused on large attorney fee awards and the ever-skyrocketing cost of litigation, it would be easy to overlook a recent 10th Circuit decision awarding a $1.50 attorney fee. Fortunately for most attorneys, Howard J. Bashman says the plaintiff's lawyer in that case did not willingly agree to accept such meager compensation. Rather, his unfulfilling payday was the result of a federal law.

By Howard J. Bashman

6 minute read

July 17, 2006 | Law.com

Every July, after the U.S. Supreme Court adjourns for summer recess, statistics become available showing how the federal appellate courts fared when their decisions went before the high court for review during the just-concluded term. Attorney Howard J. Bashman, who has been analyzing the 3rd Circuit's record before the high court since 2001, examines the latest figures for the appellate courts --- and also explains why the statistics can be misleading.

By Howard J. Bashman

7 minute read

February 26, 2007 | Law.com

The U.S. Supreme Court's recent 5-4 ruling in Philip Morris USA v. Williams, overturning a $79.5 million punitive damages award in favor of a deceased smoker's widow, received an understandably upbeat reception from the business community. Yet, the decision is not an unmitigated disaster for plaintiffs seeking to recover punitive damages, writes appellate litigator and commentator Howard J. Bashman.

By Howard J. Bashman

5 minute read

October 29, 2007 | National Law Journal

Sooner or later, writes litigator Howard J. Bashman, every case that has been appealed from a trial court to an intermediate appellate court results in a decision -- one that will disappoint at least one of the parties in the case. Commentator Bashman examines the process and the pitfalls.

By Howard J. Bashman

5 minute read

June 04, 2008 | Law.com

In his latest commentary, appellate litigator Howard J. Bashman turns his attention to the new book "How Judges Think," in which 7th Circuit Judge Richard A. Posner offers a perhaps surprising reason as to why judges may join a majority opinion with which they disagree.

By Howard J. Bashman

4 minute read

September 04, 2007 | Law.com

Although more federal appellate courts have begun providing access to audio files of recent oral arguments, signs are evident of lingering judicial resistance to this trend. The 11th Circuit is the federal appellate court whose policies make it appear the least likely to provide easy online access to its oral argument recordings, writes litigator Howard J. Bashman.

By Howard J. Bashman

4 minute read

November 20, 2006 | Law.com

The 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals recently announced that it will begin implementing its appellate electronic case filing system in December -- and the other federal appellate courts aren't far behind. Litigator Howard J. Bashman takes a look at the evolution of the electronic case filing system and makes a case for federal appellate courts doing as the federal district courts have done, by giving up the paper chase.

By Howard J. Bashman

6 minute read

March 06, 2006 | Law.com

If approved by the U.S. Supreme Court and Congress, the most controversial change ever proposed to the Federal Rules of Appellate Procedure will become law. Rule 32.1 authorizes citation to non-precedential federal appellate court rulings in briefs filed in all of the U.S. Courts of Appeals. Howard Bashman expounds on why the high court should eliminate the last-minute, prospective-only limitation from Rule 32.1 and return the rule to the form in which the Appellate Rules Advisory Committee approved it.

By Howard J. Bashman

7 minute read