Monday, September 11, 2023

Bench and Bar (cont.)

By John R. Byrne

After a long hiatus, the Court held its semi-annual Bench and Bar Conference last Friday at the Miami Beach Convention Center. The event enjoyed record attendance, with over 1000 members of the bar attending. 

The decision to have fewer panels to ensure robust attendance at each panel was smart and the App allowed the moderators to ask questions from the audience in real time (and *mostly* avoided audience members hijacking the discussions with lectures masquerading as questions!)

I know there were complaints about the Gideon panel composition from the criminal defense bar. Still, Judge Williams and Judge Scola made powerful cases for the dire need for more federal funding for indigent representation. 

A really nice event put on by Chief Judge Altonaga and Judge Altman. Some pictures below. 

Panel on multi-district litigation with Judge Moreno, Judge Ruiz, Judge Rosenberg, Judge Singhal, and Podhurst partner Peter Prieto.
Afternoon plenary session on Gideon v. Wainwright with Judge Williams, Akhil Amar, Judge Scola, and David Howard.
Panel on criminal trials with Judge Marra, Judge Dimitrouleas, Chief Judge Altonaga, Judge Altman, Judge Cohn, and Judge Torres.
Supreme Court Roundup with Neal Katyal and Miguel Estrada.
Panel on civil jury trials with Judge Middlebrooks, Chief Judge Altonaga, Judge Bloom, Judge Altman, and Kozyak partner Ben Widlanski.
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7 comments:

  1. Anonymous8:38 AM

    Gaslighting defenders again. As a former AUSA yourself, not surprising.

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    1. Anonymous9:34 AM

      This is gaslighting?? “I know there were complaints about the Gideon panel composition from the criminal defense bar. Still, Judge Williams and Judge Scola made powerful cases for the dire need for more federal funding for indigent representation.”

      Wow. Surprised you didn’t also say it’s racist. You need counseling. Now that’s gaslighting.

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  2. Anonymous10:27 AM

    Thank goodness for the judges everyone knows pds can barely form sentences.

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  3. Anonymous10:29 AM

    Was the trialmaster present for this gala?

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  4. Anonymous8:54 AM

    What prosecutors were there groveling to be seen for Magistrate positions??

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    1. Anonymous1:47 PM

      Interesting comment, and groveling is an odd word choice. The Magistrate judges assist the USDC Judges in bringing cases to resolution. The Magistrate Judges are chosen by majority vote of the active USDC judges. In what world would an applicant not want to be seen by those that make the employment decision?? I’m not sure what we are teaching people anymore. Not sure who all was there, but I would hope each and every person being considered for a Magistrate Judge position was there, no matter what job they have now or have had in the past. That would be standard common sense protocol.

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  5. Anonymous6:23 PM

    I get the groveling comment.
    ..They go from not half speaking to anyone, to bending over backwards, volunteering to be pimped out for some judges' community service project, trying to curry favor...then get pissed off when it doesn't work the first, second, or third time.

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