Norm Pattis is an American defense lawyer and former columnist who runs a law firm in New Haven, Connecticut.
In 2023, Pattis' law license was suspended for six months in Connecticut in relation to a violation of a court order in the Alex Jones case, but the suspension was overturned in 2024.
The attack began just before 1 p.m.,[5] when Trump finished speaking at Washington D.C.'s Ellipse park and his supporters who were listening started marching east towards the Capitol, including members of the Proud Boys militia group.
[6] Proud Boys organizer Joseph Biggs and chapter leader Zachary Rehl were put on trial for seditious conspiracy, and were represented by Pattis.
[7][8] Pattis argued that they were "misguided patriots, not terrorists", and that the Justice Department was overreaching in its prosecution at a level similar to the targeting of left-wing activists by the COINTELPRO program in the 1960s and 1970s.
The trial judge in the Connecticut case against Jones, Barbara Bellis, paused jury selection and gave both sides ten days to "make arguments about the implications of Pattis refusing to answer questions".
[12][15] Pattis filed a motion to delay imposing the suspension until his appeal can be heard, saying that it would compromise the cases of Jones and Biggs.
[15][17] In January 2024, Rick Silverstein, an attorney from New Haven, Connecticut, had his law license suspended for a year by Superior Court Judge Brian Fischer for "abhorrent disciplinary conduct".
Pattis said it was a "grotesque overreaction", and tried to make a public interest appeal regarding the decision to the state Superior Court, but was unsuccessful.
The CT Post covered other Facebook and Twitter comments of Pattis which were controversial, about Rashida Tlaib, school shooting victims, and other people.