At the Altar of the Appellate Gods – One Woman’s Experience Arguing Before the U.S. Supreme Court
Category: On Demand
Member Price: $200
Non-Member Price: $250
Areas of Law: For All Attorneys
| NJ CLE: | NJ CLE information: This program has been approved by the Board on Continuing Legal Education of the Supreme Court of New Jersey for 3.4 hours of total CLE credit (Full Credits Available: NJ General: 3.4). |
| NY CLE (t&nt): | NY Professional Practice Transitional: 3.0 |
| PA CLE: | PA Substantive Credit: 2.5
New: No PACLE fee is required for this program. To earn PA CLE credits, a valid PA Bar ID number must be entered into the CLE form provided after attending the program. |
Keynote
Moderator
Presenters
- Lisa Gochman, JD
- Retired, Deputy Attorney General, Freehold
Have you ever wondered what it’s like to argue before the U.S. Supreme Court?
Few New Jersey attorneys have presented an oral argument before the U.S. Supreme Court. For those who have, it is an awe-inspiring experience filled with pomp, circumstance, and protocol, mixed with a little humor, and all wrapped up in the terror, wonder, and joy of standing before the altar of the appellate gods.
Join us for a unique presentation as Lisa Sarnoff Gochman, who briefed and argued the landmark sentencing case of Apprendi v. New Jersey, offers a behind-the-scenes perspective of Supreme Court litigation. This lively seminar traces the arc of a criminal matter from the Cumberland County trial court, through the New Jersey appellate courts, and up to the Supreme Court. The case began in Vineland, where white supremacist Charles C. Apprendi, Jr., repeatedly fired his rifle into the home of the only Black family in his neighborhood. Gochman defended the constitutionality of New Jersey’s hate crime statute against an onslaught of questions by the nine justices of the United States Supreme Court.
In his 2019 autobiography, “The Making of a Justice, Reflections on My First 94 Years,” Justice John Paul Stevens described the Apprendi decision as “what may well be the most significant majority opinion I authored as a justice.” Apprendi set off a revolution in criminal sentencing law in state and federal courts across the country and the “Apprendi Doctrine” is still taught in law schools today.
Gochman will also discuss her latest law review article, “At the Library of the Appellate Gods,” in which she recounts her adventures at the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C., in July 2023 reading Justice Stevens' recently released papers on the Apprendi case.
Gochman’s story is the subject of her book, “At the Altar of the Appellate Gods.” Linda Greenhouse, Pulitzer prize-winning Supreme Court reporter for the New York Times, writes that the book offers a “rare glimpse of life at the court – not on the bench but in front of it – that even experienced court-watchers will find illuminating.” Legendary Supreme Court reporter Tony Mauro says, “Oyez, oyez, read this book!” A copy of Lisa’s book will be included in the registration fee for each in-person attendee.
The lessons learned from navigating New Jersey’s appellate courts and the experience of preparing to appear in the highest court in the land will inspire every attorney to find success in his or her own practice.