Howard J Bashman

September 12, 2016 | The Legal Intelligencer

In the 25 years that I have worked in ­private practice as an appellate attorney in Pennsylvania, one recurring challenge I have faced is finding new and informative appellate-focused continuing legal education programming.

By Howard J. Bashman

13 minute read

August 08, 2016 | The Legal Intelligencer

Federal Rule of Appellate Procedure 32.1 will celebrate its 10-year ­anniversary in December 2016. If you have never heard of Rule 32.1, you can consider yourself among the vast majority of practicing lawyers. But in the months and years leading up to Rule 32.1's ­adoption, the rule was the subject of ­considerable attention, opposition, and controversy. Rule 32.1 allows citation to the unpublished, ­nonprecedential opinions of federal ­appellate courts in documents filed in those courts.

By Howard J. Bashman

14 minute read

July 11, 2016 | The Legal Intelligencer

The U.S. Supreme Court's recently concluded 2015-16 term will likely be most remembered for Justice Antonin Scalia's unexpected passing, for the deadlocked cases and stymied ­confirmation process that followed, and for the court's unexpectedly liberal rulings in closely watched cases involving affirmative action in college admissions and abortion rights.

By Howard J. Bashman

15 minute read

June 14, 2016 | The Legal Intelligencer

Conventional wisdom dictates that it is less than optimal to design an appellate tribunal having an even, as opposed to an odd, number of judges. But recent experiences at the U.S. Supreme Court, the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, and even the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, demonstrate, once again, that conventional ­wisdom is not always correct.

By Howard J. Bashman

6 minute read

May 10, 2016 | The Legal Intelligencer

On Dec. 1, several noteworthy amendments to the Federal Rules of Appellate Procedure are scheduled to take effect. The most significant amendments will affect the maximum ­permitted length of briefs, the time available for responding to briefs and motions that have been served electronically, and amicus briefs submitted in connection with panel rehearing or rehearing en banc.

By Howard J. Bashman

7 minute read

April 12, 2016 | The Legal Intelligencer

Pennsylvania's legislature is on the verge of squandering more than $1 million in taxpayer dollars that would need to be spent to re-advertise the proposed amendment to the state constitution to raise the judicial retirement age from 70 to 75 if a vote on the amendment is postponed from this month's primary election to this year's general election in November.

By Howard J. Bashman

15 minute read

March 08, 2016 | The Legal Intelligencer

I was working in my office late on the afternoon of Feb. 13 when news began to spread that U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia had died while on a hunting trip in a rather isolated part of southwestern Texas. Although the death of someone a month shy of his 80th birthday should not come as a shock, Scalia's outsized personality and the impassioned nature of many of his written opinions, not to mention the frequency with which he would verbally wrestle with counsel at oral argument, had made it seem that he could and would ­survive indefinitely.

By Howard J. Bashman

7 minute read

February 09, 2016 | The Legal Intelligencer

Every appeal involves at least one party that is disgruntled with a trial court's ruling. It often follows that the losing side's trial lawyer and his or her client are also quite dissatisfied with the trial judge. It may not be much of an overstatement to observe that the side that has won in the trial court believes that justice has been done, while the side that has lost believes the system is corrupt, the trial judge is biased, and a fair hearing before a neutral decision-maker has yet to be obtained.

By Howard J. Bashman

7 minute read

January 12, 2016 | The Legal Intelligencer

Perhaps there will come a day when I will cease my incessant urging of attorneys to sign up to participate in appellate e-filing in Pennsylvania's state court system, but since far too many attorneys still haven't registered, today is not yet that day.

By Howard J. Bashman

7 minute read

January 11, 2016 | The Legal Intelligencer

Perhaps there will come a day when I will cease my incessant urging of attorneys to sign up to participate in appellate e-filing in Pennsylvania's state court system, but since far too many attorneys still haven't registered, today is not yet that day.

By Howard J. Bashman

7 minute read