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For decades, Pauline Newman has been a respected name in IP. After several interventions from her coworkers, she’s more recently become infamous for daring to keep working at a job that she’s passionate about. Unfortunately, her dedication to the craft is being treated as a nuisance. Several of her colleagues have questioned her mental and physical health, attacking her memory and accusing her of suffering a heart attack. Based on a reading of the information presented, a Federal Circuit panel has recommended that she be suspended from judging for a year. Upon hearing the news, we now know that she isn’t the only person causing a fuss with their dissents — her doctor has voiced his disagreements too. From Bloomberg Law:
A neurologist who examined Federal Circuit Judge Pauline Newman and deemed her fit to serve responded forcefully to a judicial committee’s recommendation to suspend the 96-year-old jurist.
[R]othstein said that when he examined Newman she “was eloquent, her responses were fluid and appropriate, and her examination did not indicate in any way that she was cognitively impaired.”
He took exception with how his examination, which was dated June 21, was described by the special committee—in particular a line in the committee’s report that said Newman “failed 80% of the memory related questions.”“I feel it was a distortion and very inappropriate the way in which my opinion was altered to say something I didn’t say,” Rothstein said.
“I can tell you flat out there was nothing in my report,” Rothstein added, that suggested “she could not respond to questions appropriately.”
The panel’s unexpected outcome is in part due to a battle of the experts. The committee questioned the thoroughness of Rothstein’s report — one point of issue being if he considered conversations with the court staffers in his report.
Despite Newman’s on-point responses and the corroborating reports in her favor, the committee’s’ recommendation still stands.
Doctor Who Examined 96-Year-Old Judge Slams Suspension, Report [Bloomberg Law]
Earlier: Pauline Newman’s Dissents Get More Attention Than Her Coworkers Making Up Medical Conditions About Her
A Lifetime-Appointed Judge Was Accused Of Not Being Able To Do Her Job. She Brought Receipts.
Despite Her Cooperation, Panel Decides To Suspend Pauline Newman For A Year
Chris Williams became a social media manager and assistant editor for Above the Law in June 2021. Prior to joining the staff, he moonlighted as a minor Memelord™ in the Facebook group Law School Memes for Edgy T14s. He endured Missouri long enough to graduate from Washington University in St. Louis School of Law. He is a former boatbuilder who cannot swim, a published author on critical race theory, philosophy, and humor, and has a love for cycling that occasionally annoys his peers. You can reach him by email at cwilliams@abovethelaw.com and by tweet at @WritesForRent.
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