In my thirty years as a Judge on three different Maryland Trial Courts and the last 16 years as a Senior Judge serving on two of those Trial Courts and one appellate Court conducting ADR, I have observed and experienced the changing roles of lawyers, judges and experts in trials by jury, trials by a
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THE INTERSECTION OF ADVOCACY AND FINANCIAL FORENSICS: THE ROLE OF THE EXPERT IN 21 ST CENTURY DISPUTE RESOLUTION
By Steven Platt
(Revisited and Revised)
INTRODUCTION:
Almost five years ago I penned an article similarly titled which some years later was published in NACVA’s “QuickRead.” In that article, I described what, at that time, was my perspective as a “Recovering Judge” of the role of the “Expert” in the 21st century profession of Dispute Resolution. At the…
Does Judicial Philosophy Make a Difference? 2022 Edition
By Steven Platt
I have written on this subject previously. The first time was in 2017 when the former President Donald J. Trump appointed now Justice Neil Gorsuch. The second time was in 2020, when Justice Amy Coney Barrett was appointed. Each time I ended the article by rhetorically asking the question to each new justice: “What kind…
The War Against Certification and Credentialing Organizations
By Steven Platt
The author in this article discusses cases where members of credentialing organizations sue the organization for injunctive relief and monetary damages. He discusses the role of the arbitrator and causes that appear to prompt members to pursue redress through the court once sanctioned.
Introduction
As I mentioned in my first article for QuickRead, my experience as…
The Role of the Judge in Our Society
By Steven Platt
As we watch and reflect the hearings on the nomination of Judge Ketanji Brown-Jackson to be a Justice of The United States Supreme Court, there is emerging evidence despite distractions that those hearings are uniquely focused on what role judges should play in our society and how they should be selected. That is a good…
Remarks at “Vintage of The Valley Event” Hosted by Strasburg, VA Heritage Association
By Steven Platt
THE STRASBURG “SILK MILL”/” TEXTILE MILL”
THE “FAMILY BUSINESS”
It is difficult to describe the gratitude that I felt and the memories that were brought back to mind when I first received the original invitation to participate in the events planned by The Strasburg Heritage Association and again one year later as a result of…
Lawyers, The Judiciary, and the Media – A Symbiotic Relationship
By Steven Platt
In my last Commentary which addressed, “The Necessary Independence and Interdependence of the Judiciary and the Media,” I explained the necessary interaction between an independent judiciary and a free media in insuring that judges be able to distinguish between fact and fiction in a courtroom, e.g., in today’s world between conspiracy theories and evidentiary-based findings…
The Necessary Independence and Interdependence of the Judiciary and the Media
By Steven Platt
In the wake of the completion of the trial of the individual whom a jury found “criminally responsible” for the horrific slaughter of five community-oriented journalists, and wonderful human beings working for my hometown newspaper as a result of his resentment and anger at the “media” in the form of The Capital Newspaper and the Judiciary for the…
Transitioning Off the Bench and Then Some
By Steven Platt
My transition off The Bench was punctuated by my entry into several worlds which differed greatly from “The Bench,” but also from each other. This was not inadvertent. Rather, it resulted from several years’ worth of advance planning, calculated career diversification choices and like everything else in life and love – a little bit…
Judicial Philosophy – Does It Make A Difference?
By Steven Platt
The death of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg and the rapid nomination of a replacement with a different judicial philosophy should remind both those who voted in the last Presidential election and more pointedly those who didn’t that “Elections have consequences” and this is one of them. The visible hypocrisy that has provided the context for…