Peter Bennett, of The Bennett Law Firm in Portland, Maine will be the co-chair of the Judicial-Media Knowledge Exchange Workshop being co-sponsored by the Missouri Supreme Court and the American Bar Association on June 30th in Columbia, Missouri. Bennett will be addressing the plenary session during the opening with Missouri Chief Justice Patricia Breckenridge and Judge Shira Scheindlin (Ret.) of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York. Bennett is Special Advisor to the ABA’s Standing Committee on the American Judicial System, a member of the ABA Commission on the American Jury and Immediate Past Chair of the ABA’s Standing Committee on Judicial Independence.
On Thursday, June 30, 2016, the Standing Committee on the American Judicial System is hosting a Judicial-Media Knowledge Exchange Workshop in Columbia, Missouri. The Project seeks to improve understanding of the role of courts by the public, the media, and policymakers, in order to reduce the politicization of judicial selection, minimize the threat of bias, and develop overall better support for the judicial system. This Workshop will help enhance court-media communication and understanding with the ultimate goal of improving public understanding of the judicial system. SCAJS, the Supreme Court of Missouri, the Missouri Press Association, and the Missouri Broadcast Association have encouraged participation by reporters and judges from throughout the state who represent the broad array of media outlets and courts that exist in Missouri. If successful, then the Workshop will become a project engaged in by state courts and media associations throughout the United States.
Bennett spent the past two years working with others to create this Workshop and is proud to see the project getting off the ground. “I have long believed that public support for the courts and the administration of justice is dependent on the media for education. Most citizens have no first hand understanding of how courts function and the difficult job that we call upon judges to do when they enforce the rule of law. By improving communications between the courts and the media, we expect to enhance the public’s confidence in our justice system.”
Peter Bennett has been a leader in his community and within the American Bar Association (ABA) for over 25 years. He has chaired the 36,000 member Tort Trial and Insurance Practice Section of the ABA and is a trustee of the Appellate Judges Education Institute. He is also Treasurer and a trustee of the National Judicial College. Bennett is nationally recognized as a lawyer representing management in the field of labor and employment law, and is President of The Bennett Law Firm with offices in Portland, Maine and Boston, Massachusetts.
About The Bennett Law Firm
The Bennett Law Firm was founded over 50 years ago with a boutique practice focused on representing management on issues of labor and employment law. The firm has a sophisticated trial practice and also offers experienced legal guidance in aggressively avoiding unionization. The firm is also at the forefront in developing preventative policies and procedures, conducting workplace investigations, training, avoiding and, if necessary, resolving employment disputes (including alternative dispute resolution), negotiating collective bargaining agreements, and arbitration.
The Bennett Law Firm is a member of the International Society of Primerus Law Firms.