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A Pursuit of Justice

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Steven Platt

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INTRODUCTION: I appreciate this opportunity to discuss the role of the “Expert” in the 21st Century profession of dispute resolution from the perspective of what I now call myself, “a Recovering Judge.” I spent a total of 29 years from 1978 to 2007 on three different Trial courts. I was also assigned to Maryland’s intermediate appellate court on multiple occasions. For the last 17 years, I have engaged in the world of private dispute resolution…
A retired judge on Wednesday cut in half the 100-year sentence he gave a defendant 23 years ago, partially granting a defense motion asking him to reconsider. The defendant, Gerald Jamar Cook, 40, was convicted of second-degree murder and related offenses in 1996 for the shooting death of William Louis Miller the previous year. Cook, who was just shy of his 18th birthday when he committed the murder, has served 23 years of his sentence. Prince…
This writer’s 21st Century “branding” is “Senior Judge” when I am recalled to sit as a Trial Court Judge or as a Mediator for The Court of Special Appeals or one of the Trial Courts in Maryland. When I am not recalled, I function and am referred to as a “Mediator” or “Arbitrator” in the Private Sector.  As such, I mediate or arbitrate disputes which may or may not be filed cases in state or…
As the new year approaches, I welcome the opportunity in this space provided by The Daily Record, to reflect on the last almost 12 years since I “retired” as a full-time judge and entered a very different world of Private ADR, consulting, as well as public speaking, lecturing and teaching for diverse organizations. I have also been lucky enough and honored, during that time, to have been approved by the Court of Appeals to be…
For the last 25 years, there is one theme which has been echoed more than any other at judicial conferences and Bar Association meetings Federal, State and local, as well as strategic planning sessions conducted by every organized judicial and legal organization from Legal Aide, Law Schools, even the decisions of The Judicial Disabilities Commission. That theme is that lawyers and judges should always be working to increase access to justice. Indeed, it would likely…
In the wake of the horrific slaughter of five community-oriented journalists, and wonderful human beings working for my hometown newspaper by a twisted and tormented individual whose resentment and anger at the “media” in the form of The Capital Newspaper and the Judiciary in the form of the Maryland trial and appellate courts adjudicated his cases that overcame whatever internal controls he may have had over his wish to “kill” those whom he resented for…
On Friday, June 15, 2018 at the 2018 MSBA Legal Summit and Annual Meeting from 8:00 a.m. to 10:30 a.m., the Solo Small Firm Practice Section of The Maryland State Bar Association will present a Program entitled “A View of the Bench: Judging The Judges.” Notice the title is “A View of the Bench”, not the usual “A View from the Bench” where judges comment on the behavior of lawyers and litigants thereby arguably proving…
The link between the lack of progress toward abolishing contested judicial elections of circuit court judges and the failure of the State of Maryland to create a rigorous but fair program of Judicial Performance Evaluations is unmistakable. The risk of abuse of even a fair and impartial system of Judicial Performance Evaluations in a contested judicial election is real. That risk or even probability coupled with the fact that the “Sitting Judges” run against one…
As the new year approaches, I welcome the opportunity in this space provided by The Daily Record, to reflect on the last almost 11 years since I “retired” as a full-time judge and entered a very different world of Private ADR, consulting, as well as public speaking, lecturing and teaching for diverse organizations. I have also been lucky enough and honored, during that time, to have been approved by the Court of Appeals to be…
Bernie (Sanders) and Steve (Bannon) meet at the local bar, the visual of which resembles, “Cheers”, to talk about “What we have in common.” “We need a Political Revolution.” Bernie repeats as he did so often during his 2016 campaign and thereafter. We are in a “War against The Establishment” and the “Deconstruction of the Administrative State” says Steve echoing his Breitbart inspired refrain which he reiterates without fear of getting some more attention than…