Robert Ashby Pate (born March 20, 1978) is an American lawyer with the law firm of Lightfoot, Franklin & White LLC and a former Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of Palau.[2]
R. Ashby Pate | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of Palau | |
| In office 2013–2016 | |
| Appointed by | President Johnson Toribiong |
| Preceded by | Associate Justice Alexandra Foster |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Robert Ashby Pate[1] March 20, 1978 Birmingham, Alabama |
| Alma mater | University of Colorado Boulder Samford University University of East Anglia |
Judicial service edit
As one of four justices on the Republic's highest court, Pate presided over several hundred civil and criminal cases as a trial judge and served as a panelist on over 40 civil and criminal appeals.[3] Pate was appointed to the Court at the age of 34 by President Johnson Toribiong.[4]
In 2014, Pate's order granting a writ of habeas corpus in In re Angelino, which condemned the solitary confinement system in Palau's only correctional facility, garnered attention in the Asia-Pacific region and among noted international human rights advocates as "an impressive national court application of international human rights norms".[5][6]
In 2009, while serving as Senior Court Counsel for the Palau Supreme Court, Pate also helped establish Palau's first jury trial system.[7][8]
Legal career edit
After law school, Pate served as a Law Clerk to U. W. Clemon of the United States District Court, Northern District of Alabama, Alabama's first African-American federal judge.
In 2016, Pate joined Lightfoot where his practice focuses on international disputes, appellate work, and general commercial litigation. Pate was appointed as co-prosecutor in the 2016 judicial ethics trial of Alabama's "Ten Commandments" judge, Chief Justice Roy Moore. He delivered closing arguments in the trial, arguing that the Chief Justice had defied the U.S. Supreme Court’s same-sex marriage decision in Obergefell v. Hodges. In a unanimous verdict, the Alabama Court of the Judiciary suspended the Chief Justice from office for the remainder of his elected term, without pay.[9][10]
Publications and lectures edit
In 2016-2017, Pate delivered a series of lectures entitled Be The Light to numerous organizations across the country. Other presentations and publications include:
—Be the Light, Presentation to the American College of Trial Lawyers, Spring Meeting (2016), Maui, HI.[11]
—The Future of Harmonization: Soft Law Instruments and the Principled Advance of International Lawmaking, 13 Touro Int’l L. Rev. 2, 142 (2010) (author).[12]
—The Big Wet Now: Observations for Young Internationalists, Presentation to the Dean Rusk Center for International Law and Policy, University of Georgia School of Law (2013) (lecture).[13][14]
—The Clear Opener: How to avoid mucking up the most crucial part of discourse, Bryan A. Garner, The American Bar Association Journal (August 2014)(interviewed and cited by Mr. Garner on judicial order writing and Federal Judicial Center training).[15]
Education edit
Pate graduated summa cum laude from the University of Colorado Boulder with a B.A. in English in 2000. Pate graduated magna cum laude from Samford University's Cumberland School of Law, where he also served as Editor-in-Chief of the Law Review. Pate earned his LL.M. in International Commercial and Business Law in 2010 from the University of East Anglia where he graduated first in his class and was awarded the Sir Roy Goode Prize in international law.[16][17][18]
References edit
- ^ "Hon. Robert Ashby Pate". Martindale.
- ^ "Birmingham attorney appointed to Supreme Court of Palau, an island nation in Pacific Ocean". Al.com. 3 March 2013. Retrieved 26 November 2015.
- ^ "The Hon. R. Ashby Pate". American Law Institute. Retrieved 26 November 2015.
- ^ "Birmingham attorney appointed to Supreme Court of Palau, an island nation in Pacific Ocean". Al.com. 3 March 2013. Retrieved 26 November 2015.
- ^ "Human-rights-driven judicial decree may alter solitary confinement in Palau". dianemarieamann.com/. 3 December 2014. Retrieved 30 November 2015.
- ^ "Supreme Court of the Republic of Palau Cites Foreign Relations Law Restatement". www.ali.org. Retrieved 30 November 2015.
- ^ "First Criminal Jury Trial Held In Palau Ends". pidp.eastwestcenter.org/. Archived from the original on 8 December 2015. Retrieved 30 November 2015.
- ^ "ASHBY PATE DRAFTS PROCEDURES USED IN PALAU'S FIRST JURY TRIAL". Archived from the original on 8 December 2015. Retrieved 30 November 2015.
- ^ "LA Times". Los Angeles Times. 28 September 2016. Retrieved 10 November 2016.
- ^ Cleek, Ashley (30 September 2016). "Slate". Retrieved 10 November 2016.
{{cite magazine}}: Cite magazine requires|magazine=(help) - ^ "YouTube". YouTube.
- ^ "THE FUTURE OF HARMONIZATION: SOFT LAW INSTRUMENTS AND THE PRINCIPLED ADVANCE OF INTERNATIONAL LAWMAKING". Archived from the original on 8 December 2015. Retrieved 1 December 2015.
- ^ "Georgia Society for International and Comparative Law Speaker". law.uga.edu/. Archived from the original on 8 December 2015. Retrieved 1 December 2015.
- ^ "Justice R. Ashby Pate from the Supreme Court of Palau speaks to Georgia Law students". law.uga.edu/. Archived from the original on 10 September 2015. Retrieved 1 December 2015.
- ^ "How to avoid mucking up the most crucial part of discourse". abajournal.com/. Retrieved 1 December 2015.
- ^ "The Hon. R. Ashby Pate". American Law Institute. Retrieved 26 November 2015.
- ^ "Law and Order in the Pacific". coloradanmagazine.org/. Archived from the original on 14 September 2014. Retrieved 30 November 2015.
- ^ "Alum takes 'skylarking' advice to nation's high court". artsandsciences.colorado.edu/. Retrieved 30 November 2015.