In 2023, the Federal Circuit began an investigation into U.S. Circuit Judge Pauline Newman’s mental and physical competency and later suspended her when she declined to undergo a medical examination. Newman claims this investigation is a personal attack against her and that she does not have any significant health issues that make her unfit to serve. Many in the patent community are speaking out in support of the 96-year-old judge.

Panitch Schwarze attorney Charles F. Wieland III spoke with Law360 about the ongoing dispute. A co-founder of the Pauline Newman IP American Inn of Court, he said that he has “never seen [Newman] anything other than lucid.”

He criticized the personal nature of the Federal Circuit’s order against Judge Newman. “I don’t think I can minimize the shock we all felt,” he said. “It was so incredibly personal. Would you have said that about a family member, let alone a peer? Why did they need to try to humiliate her? The motivation is obtuse to me.”

The court’s judicial council ruled that Newman has displayed hostile and concerning behavior, but Wieland questions this determination. He said the rulings “seemed extremely personal and really disrespectful, far beyond necessary. You want judges to be impartial and not emotional, and it was neither.”

Wieland emphasized that Newman’s fight against this investigation is an attempt to preserve her legacy. “She’s fighting solely because she needs to let people know she’s cognizant, coherent and lucid,” he said. “I don’t think she wants to be dismissed as a footnote, as someone who’s gotten too old to be on the bench. We all know that as we get older, we’re not as good as when we’re young. But she’s still better than most.”

Read the full article here: Fed. Circ.’s Competency Feud With Newman Turned Personal (Subscription is required.)