Pattis Out, B*tches

How did racist standup attorney Norm Pattis get suspended from the practice of law? Well, it's kind of a funny story involving 4,000 pages of confidential medical and psychological records, a protective order, and an external hard drive which Pattis passed around to a whole bunch of unrelated parties while he was representing Alex Jones in the Connecticut Sandy Hook defamation case.
Mistakes were made! Although, to hear Pattis tell it, those mistakes were made by Connecticut Superior Court Judge Barbara Bellis, who never had the right to suspend him. That's what he told US District Judge Timothy Keller, who is presiding over the seditious conspiracy trial of several Proud Boys, including Joe Biggs, whom Pattis represents.
In a motion for emergency order, Pattis argued that Judge Bellis lacked jurisdiction to initiate disciplinary proceedings "based on allegations the court either read about in the newspaper or heard about on television," and thus the federal court should allow him to stay on the Biggs case. The state judge showed "demonstrable bias," which can be inferred from the fact that she referred him for lesser sanctions before, and didn't do it this time when all he did was violate five different rules of professional conduct. Unfair!
Anyway, it was "improper for the court to hear an issue involving him after he had challenged its competence and impartiality in a public pleading" and "challenged its understanding of the First Amendment in a highly public and widely reported upon proceeding." (He appealed a sanctions order and lost.)
Plus one time she told him in a bench conference that she was disappointed in him, and "[o]bservers of the trial have reported an impression that the judge showed palpable animosity toward him."
And so he begged the federal court's indulgence, citing "extraordinary circumstances" and the fact that the trial is beginning this week. He also included this one, perfect paragraph:
The undersigned has shown appropriate decorum to both the Court and Government counsel, apologizing promptly when, in the heat of advocacy, his remarks bordered on the intemperate.
Presumably this is a reference to him shouting in open court that the jury selection process was an "unendurable farce." Who among us ...
In the event, his arguments appear to have been in vain. As Law & Crime reported, Judge Keller seemed disinclined to find an exception to the requirement that attorneys be in good standing in their home jurisdiction to appear. So even if Judge Bellis stays the suspension pending appeal, as Pattis has requested, he'll probably be off the Biggs case soon. Although there's a glitch, because his co-counsel Dan Hull appears to have some undisclosed conflicts.
Dan Hull and Norm Pattis start sniping at each other, forcing Judge Kelly to shout them down. Kelly eventually yells, "Mr. Hull, take your seat sir!" and orders a recess.
So things are going great here a day before opening arguments are set to begin.
-- Jordan Fischer (@JordanOnRecord) January 11, 2023

But never fear ... Norm's got plans.
Getting down to the last gasps in efforts to remain as counsel for #JoeBigs in #ProudBoys insurrection trial. I have been asked to consider role as commentator. (Mr. Biggs consents.) In the immortal words of The Clash, should I stay or should I go? Your vote?
-- norm_pattis (@PattisNorm) January 10, 2023

He's going to stay in DC and report on the trial. So we'll be getting our fill of Norm for some time to come. Well, at least it's cold in DC, so he's likely to keep his pants on.
Alex Jones's Lawyer Benched from Proud Boys Seditious Conspiracy Case Until Disciplinary Proceedings Resolve [Law & Crime]
Liz Dye lives in Baltimore where she writes about law and politics.