Sample Briefs and Memoranda

Education

Harvard Law School, Cambridge, Massachusetts
J.D. 1984

Columbia University, New York, New York
B.A., Cum Laude, 1981

Professional Experience

7/89 - present Curhan Law Office
Boston, Massachusetts

Private practice concentrating in criminal appellate and post-conviction matters and civil appeals

Briefed and/or argued more than 375 criminal and civil appeals in state and federal courts, and more than 300 criminal post-conviction motions, petitions, and applications of various sorts.

Drafted more than 1,000 pretrial and trial motions and pleadings in civil and criminal cases

9/84 - 6/89 Office of the District Attorney for the Bristol District
New Bedford, Massachusetts

Chief Appeals and Training Unit 10/87 - 6/89
Staff Attorney, Appeals and Training Unit 9/84 - 10/87

Briefed and argued approximately 40 criminal appeals in Massachusetts appellate courts and handled numerous post-conviction motions

Bar Memberships

Supreme Court of the United States

United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit

United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit

Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts

United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts

Supreme Court of New Hampshire

United States District Court for the District of New Hampshire

Professional Organizations

American Bar Association

Massachusetts Bar Association

New Hampshire Bar Association

Massachusetts Association of Criminal Defense Attorneys

Committees

Massachusetts Bar Association
Criminal Justice Appeals Committee member
Chairman, Educational Subcommittee

Committee for Public Counsel Services, Boston, Massachusetts
Screening Panel
Mentor Panel
Murder List (Appeals)

Articles

Commonwealth v. Conaghan, 433 Mass. 105 (2000): A Flexible Approach To Battered Woman Syndrome In The Massachusetts Courts
Massachusetts Bar Association Section Review-Spring 2001

Does the Denial of a Gatekeeper Bar Federal Habeas Relief?
The Defender-January 2000

Motions to Revise and Revoke Under Mass. R. Crim. P. 29
Massachusetts Bar Association Section Review-December 1998

G.L. c. 209A Protective Orders
Middlesex County Bar Association Newsletter-Summer 1996

"Punitive" Civil Sanctions: Double Jeopardy Implications
Middlesex County Bar Association Newsletter-Spring 1996

Preserving the Appellate Record: Tips for Trial Counsel
Middlesex County Bar Association Newsletter-Fall 1995
Massachusetts Bar Association Criminal Justice Section News-February 1997

SJC Excludes "Suggestive Identifications"
Middlesex County Bar Association Newsletter-Summer 1995

Recent Developments in Criminal Law
Middlesex County Bar Association Newsletter-Spring 1995

Other Publications:

Contributing author, Admissions, Confessions and Statements
in Criminal Cases, MCLE December 2001

Seminars Taught

Issues In Gang Violence
Committee for Public Counsel Services
May, 2004

Intensive Seminar on Issues in Sexual Assault Cases
Commonwealth of Massachusetts Administrative Office of the Trial Court
Judicial Institute
June 2002, January 2003, June 2003

Admissions, Confessions and Statements in Criminal Cases
MCLE
December 2001

Speedy Trial Issues Under Mass. R. Crim. P. 36;
Motions to Revise and Revoke Under Mass. R. Crim. P. 29
Bristol County Bar Advocates Training Seminar
September, 1998

Appellate Practice Training Seminar
Committee for Public Counsel Services
January, 1997

Preserving The Record For Appeal
Bristol County Bar Advocates Training Seminar
May, 1994

Appellate Practice
Massachusetts Bar Association
February, 1994