Ashby Pate

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 March 20, 1978
Birmingham, Alabama
Alma mater University of Colorado Boulder
Samford University
University of East Anglia

R. Ashby Pate (born 20 March 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.[1]

Judicial Service

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.[2] Appointed to the Court at the age of 34 by President Johnson Toribiong, Pate was the youngest justice in the island nation’s history.[3]

Notable

Solitary Confinement and International Human Rights

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."[4][5] Justice Pate's order, which describes in graphic detail his own experience of being locked in solitary confinement in order to personally test the petitioner's claims, has since resulted in significant structural improvements to the Koror Jail and the effective end to the practice of solitary confinement in the Republic.[6][7]

Jury Trials in Palau

In 2009, while serving as Senior Court Counsel for the Supreme Court, Justice Pate also helped establish Palau's first jury trial system, contributing to its enabling legislation and authoring Palau's first jury trial rules and juror handbook.[8][9]

Asia-Pacific Involvement

Pate has participated in the Pacific Judicial Council Biennial Conference, along with federal, state, territorial and national judges from the U.S. Ninth Circuit, Guam, CNMI, Federated States of Micronesia, Malaysia, and Palau.

In 2015, he spearheaded and organized the American College of Trial Lawyers' 2015 Advanced Trial Advocacy Symposium in Palau, in which thirteen Fellows from the prestigious American College presented a three-day workshop for lawyers from Palau and Micronesia, including Guam, CNMI, and the Federated States of Micronesia.[10] The Immediate Past President of the College, Francis M. Wikstrom, called the Symposium “one of the great accomplishments of the College.”

Along with judges from Indonesia, Afghanistan, Bhutan, Fiji, Timor-Leste, France, Hong Kong, and mainland China, Pate represented the Republic of Palau's Judiciary at the UNCITRAL Asia Pacific Judicial Summit, in Hong Kong, China, hosted by the Hong Kong Department of Justice and the Hong Kong International Arbitration Centre (HKIAC).[11]

Legal career

After law school, Pate served as a Law Clerk to the Honorable U. W. Clemon of the United States District Court, Northern District of Alabama, a prominent civil rights leader and Alabama's first African-American federal judge. In 2009, Pate served as Senior Court Counsel to the Honorable Chief Justice Arthur Ngiraklsong of the Supreme Court of the Republic of Palau, where he served as a judicial clerk, legal counsel for the Supreme Court, and helped establish Palau's first jury trial system, contributing to its enabling legislation and authoring Palau's first jury trial rules and juror handbook.

Prior to his judicial appointment, Pate practiced for several years at the firm of Lightfoot Franklin & White, in Birmingham, Alabama, doing general commercial litigation, with a focus on complex class actions and mass torts, international disputes, and NCAA compliance investigations.[12][13] During his time in practice, he was voted a 2013 Top International Law Attorney by Birmingham Magazine’s Peer Reviewed Survey of over 2,000 Alabama Lawyers.[14]

In 2016, Pate rejoined Lightfoot where he currently focuses his practice on international disputes, appellate work, white collar crime, and medical device litigation.

Notably, shortly after his return, Pate was appointed as co-prosecutor, along with former federal judge and lead prosecutor, John Carroll, in the widely-publicized judicial ethics trial of Alabama's "Ten Commandments" judge, Chief Justice Roy Moore. Pate delivered closing arguments in the trial, arguing that a January 6, 2016 Administrative Order issued by the Chief Justice, which ordered Alabama’s probate judges to refuse to issue same-sex marriage licenses, constituted defiance of the U.S. Supreme Court’s same-sex marriage decision in Obergefell v. Hodges. In a unanimous verdict on Friday, September 30, 2016, the Alabama Court of the Judiciary suspended the Chief Justice from office for the remainder of his elected term, without pay.[15][16]

In 2014, Pate was elected to the prestigious American Law Institute as one of its youngest members, where he actively contributes to projects including The Restatement (Fourth) Foreign Relations Law of the United States, The Restatement (Third) The U.S. Law of International Commercial Arbitration, and The Restatement (Third) Torts: Liability for Economic Harm.[17] He is admitted to practice law in all state and federal courts in Alabama and is a member of the International Bar Association, the American Judges Association, the Birmingham Bar Association, and the American Bar Association.

Publications & Lectures

Pate has published and lectured on a variety of legal issues, though his primary focus involves issues of international law, the Rule of Law, and transnational litigation.

In 2016, Pate delivered a series of lectures entitled Be The Light to numerous organizations across the country, including the American College of Trial Lawyers Spring Meeting in Maui, HI; the Ninth Circuit Law Clerk Orientation in San Francisco, CA, with fellow speaker Associate Justice Anthony Kennedy of the United States Supreme Court; the Alabama's Boy's State Conference in Tuscaloosa, Alabama; and many others. Other presentations and publications include:

—Be the Light, Presentation to the American College of Trial Lawyers, Spring Meeting (2016), Maui, HI.[18]

—The Future of Harmonization: Soft Law Instruments and the Principled Advance of International Lawmaking, 13 Touro Int’l L. Rev. 2, 142 (2010) (author).[19]

—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).[20][21]

—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).[22]

—Jury Trial Rules for the Courts of the Republic of Palau, Promulgated by the Palau Supreme Court (April 28, 2010) (author).[23]

—Constitutional Law—Public Use Clause—Use of Eminent Domain to Promote Economic Development Held Constitutional, 36 CUMB. L. REV. 2, 407 (2006) (author).[24]

—Republic of Palau Reports, Volume XVI, 16 ROP 1 (2010) (editor)

—The Cumberland Law Review, Volumes I, II, & III, 37 CUMB. L. REV. 1 (2006-2007) (editor in chief)

Education

Pate graduated summa cum laude with highest distinction from the University of Colorado Boulder with a B.A. in English in 2000, where he was elected to Phi Beta Kappa, the National Dean’s List Association, and the Golden Key National Honor Society. 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 and an Abraham Caruthers Research and Writing Fellow. 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.[25][26][27]

Personal & Creative Life

Pate was born in Birmingham, Alabama on March 20, 1978. He is married to Christine Caiola of Birmingham, Alabama. The couple now have two young girls.

Sweet Dreams Palau Front Cover
Sweet Dreams Palau

Prior to law school, Pate toured regionally in the Southeastern United States in two different bands, releasing two albums of original music.[28][29][30]

Sweet Dreams Palau Back Cover
Where rainbows end and sweet dreams begin

Pate is also the author of a children’s book about Palau, titled "Sweet Dreams Palau," published by the Etpison Museum.[31]

References

  1. ↑ "Birmingham attorney appointed to Supreme Court of Palau, an island nation in Pacific Ocean". Al.com. Retrieved 26 November 2015.
  2. ↑ "The Hon. R. Ashby Pate". American Law Institute. Retrieved 26 November 2015.
  3. ↑ "Birmingham attorney appointed to Supreme Court of Palau, an island nation in Pacific Ocean". Al.com. Retrieved 26 November 2015.
  4. ↑ "Human-rights-driven judicial decree may alter solitary confinement in Palau". http://dianemarieamann.com/. Retrieved 30 November 2015. External link in |website= (help)
  5. ↑ "Supreme Court of the Republic of Palau Cites Foreign Relations Law Restatement". www.ali.org. Retrieved 30 November 2015.
  6. ↑ "Palau prison authorities ordered not to use solitary confinement". Retrieved 30 November 2015.
  7. ↑ "Palau Court Orders Prison To Temporarily End Solitary Confinement". www.pidp.org. Retrieved 30 November 2015.
  8. ↑ "First Criminal Jury Trial Held In Palau Ends". http://pidp.eastwestcenter.org/. Retrieved 30 November 2015. External link in |website= (help)
  9. ↑ "ASHBY PATE DRAFTS PROCEDURES USED IN PALAU'S FIRST JURY TRIAL". Retrieved 30 November 2015.
  10. ↑ "American Trial Lawyers Invade Tiny Palau". http://www.americanlawyer.com/. Retrieved 1 December 2015. External link in |website= (help)
  11. ↑ "UNCITRAL Asia-Pacific Judicial Summit" (PDF). Retrieved 1 December 2015.
  12. ↑ "GE HEALTHCARE DEFEATS CLASS CERTIFICATION IN NEW ORLEANS". Retrieved 30 November 2015.
  13. ↑ "NCAA Compliance and investigations". Retrieved 30 November 2015.
  14. ↑ "LIGHTFOOT ATTORNEYS RECOGNIZED BY BIRMINGHAM MAGAZINE". Retrieved 1 December 2015.
  15. ↑ "LA Times". Retrieved 10 November 2016.
  16. ↑ "Slate". Retrieved 10 November 2016.
  17. ↑ "The Hon. R. Ashby Pate". American Law Institute. Retrieved 26 November 2015.
  18. ↑ "YouTube".
  19. ↑ "THE FUTURE OF HARMONIZATION: SOFT LAW INSTRUMENTS AND THE PRINCIPLED ADVANCE OF INTERNATIONAL LAWMAKING". Retrieved 1 December 2015.
  20. ↑ "Georgia Society for International and Comparative Law Speaker". http://www.law.uga.edu/. Retrieved 1 December 2015. External link in |website= (help)
  21. ↑ "Justice R. Ashby Pate from the Supreme Court of Palau speaks to Georgia Law students". http://www.law.uga.edu/. Retrieved 1 December 2015. External link in |website= (help)
  22. ↑ "How to avoid mucking up the most crucial part of discourse". http://www.abajournal.com/. Retrieved 1 December 2015. External link in |website= (help)
  23. ↑ "Rules of Jury Trial" (PDF). http://www.palausupremecourt.net/. Retrieved 1 December 2015. External link in |website= (help)
  24. ↑ "Lexis Nexis". Retrieved 1 December 2015.
  25. ↑ "The Hon. R. Ashby Pate". American Law Institute. Retrieved 26 November 2015.
  26. ↑ "Law and Order in the Pacific". http://www.coloradanmagazine.org/. Retrieved 30 November 2015. External link in |website= (help)
  27. ↑ "Alum takes 'skylarking' advice to nation's high court". http://artsandsciences.colorado.edu/. Retrieved 30 November 2015. External link in |website= (help)
  28. ↑ "Wiseblood Vol. 1". Retrieved 2 December 2015.
  29. ↑ "Birmingham duo taps local talent for Wiseblood". Retrieved 1 December 2015.
  30. ↑ "WeOwnTheSky". Retrieved 8 December 2015.
  31. ↑ "Etpison Museum". Retrieved 9 December 2015.
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