Catalogue of Speeches, Addresses and Lectures of

Circuit Judge Frank M. Coffin

Frank M. Coffin Catalogue of Speeches, Addresses and Lectures

This is a catalogue of more that 140 speeches, addresses and lectures given by Judge Coffin on the following topics: the judiciary as an institution, judging, the law, the legal profession, legal education, and tributes to other judges, politicians, world leaders, professors and scholars.  The Law School would like to thank the Honorable Daniel Wathen, former Chief Justice of the Maine Supreme Judicial Court and Barbara Riegelhaupt, Judge Coffin's long time clerk, for their work in developing this catalogue.  For more insight into these speeches, please read their article published in the Maine Law Review, The Speeches of Frank M. Coffin: A Sideline To Judging.

 

 

I.          The Judiciary as an Institution

 

The Three Branches and How They Rub

The Examiner Club

December 1, 1969

PDF

The Quality-Quantity Crunch

Maine State Bar Association

January 25, 1973

PDF

Untitled Remarks

Rhode Island Bar Association

September 24, 1973

PDF

The Continuing Quest for Principle

The Examiner Club

November 5, 1973

PDF

The Founding Fathers and The Courts

Portland Kiwanis Club

April 29, 1975

PDF

"Justice and Workability" - Five Years Later

No venue noted

April 28, 1976

PDF

Justice as a Coiled Spring

Immanuel Baptist Church, Portland, ME

January 22, 1978

PDF

The Three Branches: Accountability In a Mixed System

Boalt Hall Law School, Berkley, CA

February 26, 1979

PDF

Address to the People: What the Oracle Told Brookline

Brookline District Court Centennial Celebration

May 23, 1982

PDF

The Federalist No. LXXXVI: On the Relations Between the Judiciary and Congress

October 22, 1985

PDF

Colloquium on Congressional/Judicial Relations

The Brookings Institution

November 13, 1986

PDF

Working with the Congress of The Future

Bicentennial Conference of Judges of the United States Courts of Appeal

October 26, 1988

PDF

A Venture in Governance

Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars

May 15, 1989

PDF

Judges and Legislators: A Prospectus For Joint Venture

Conference on Legislative-Judicial Relations, National Center for State Courts & National Conference of State Legislatures, Denver, CO

October 2, 1989

PDF

Communication Among the Three Branches: The Bar as Catalyst

New Hampshire Bar

May 3, 1991

PDF

Triage and Justice

Maine Judicial Conference

November 14, 1991

PDF

Approaching the Future

Committee on the Judicial Branch

June 8, 1992

PDF

The Fourth Estate and the Third Branch

Knight Center for Specialized Journalism Seminar: Covering Appellate Courts

May 1, 1994

PDF

Citizen Support for the Courts: Getting Specific

Conference of Justices of the Supreme Courts of Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont

May 25, 1994

PDF

Citizens As Friends of Court

Law Day Ceremony at Penobscot County Courthouse

May 1, 1996

PDF

"What Can We Do?"

Kennebec-Somerset Legal Secretaries Association

May 16, 1996

PDF

Testimony before a congressional committee considering the creation of a National Court of Appeal

PDF

 

II.        Judging

 

Justice and Workability: Un Essai *

V Suffolk Univ. L. Rev. 567

1971

PDF

Reflections on the Craft of Appellate Judging

Franklin Thomas Backus School of Law, Case Western Reserve University

April 18, 1977

PDF

Philosophy, Cybernetics, and The X Factor

New England Fellows of The American College of Trial Lawyers

January 27, 1978

PDF

Judges and Jurisprudents

Maine Judicial Conference

May 10, 1979

PDF

Beyond Competence II

3rd Circuit Judicial Conference

September 1, 1981

PDF

Address to the Judges: Justice - A House of Many Mansions

Brookline District Court Centennial Celebration

May 23, 1982

PDF

Collegiality: A Judicial Discipline

Federal Appellate Judges Seminar Federal Judicial Center

December 15, 1982

PDF

The Roles of Separate Opinions in a Collegial Court

Federal Appellate Judges Seminar Federal Judicial Center

December 15, 1982

PDF

Judex Americanus: An Endangered Species?

Eighth Circuit Judicial Conference

July 8, 1983

PDF

Is There an "Art of Judging"

First Annual Convocation For Experienced Trial Judges, Boston, MA

January 30, 1984

PDF

The Anatomy of Judicial Collegiality

Seminar for Newly Appointed Federal Appellate Judges, Federal Judicial Center

May 1, 1985

PDF

Remarks

Commission on Executive, Legislative and Judicial Salaries

October 21, 1986

PDF

Housekeeping in the Age of Statutes

DC Circuit Conference

May 24, 1988

PDF

Grace Under Pressure: A Call For Judicial Self-Help *

50 Ohio State L.J. 399

1989

PDF

Testimony

United States Senate Committee On Governmental Affairs

January 31, 1989

PDF

Judging in the Constitutional Workshop

Bowdoin College

February 13, 1989

PDF

Untitled Remarks

Second National Conference of the Federal Judges Association

May 23, 1989

PDF

What It Means To Be A Federal Appellate Judge - A Fable

Luncheon for New Judges; National Workshop for Appellate Judges

February 8, 1993

PDF

Judges' Pay: The Federal Experience

 

 

PDF

The Making of Tomorrow's Appellate Judge

Federal Judicial Center Seminar for New Federal Appellate Judges

June 25, 1994

PDF

Acceptance of Distinguished American Award

State of Maine Chapter, National Football Fall Foundation and College Hall of Fame

May 24, 1995

PDF

The Art of Judging

Maine Judges Continuing Judicial Education Session

July 14, 1995

PDF

Love With A Proper Stranger: Collegiality on an Appellate Court

ABA Appellate Judges Conference

March 2, 2002

PDF

My Judicial Key Ring

Morton A. Brody Award for Distinguished Judicial Service, Colby College

March 19, 2006

PDF

Draft Remarks

Retirement Dinner with the First Circuit

May 2, 2006

PDF

Thoughts About "Retirement"

Law Clerk's Picnic

July 2, 2006

PDF

 

III.       The Law

 

Some Reflections on the Roots of Rights

Rotary Club, Portland, ME

April 29, 1966

PDF

Untitled Remarks

National Council on Crime and Delinquency

September 8, 1966

PDF

The Dark Side of the Law

Rotary Club, Lewiston-Auburn, ME

October 27, 1966

PDF

A Charter for all Seasons

Rotary Club, Waterville, ME

May 8, 1967

PDF

Confederation and Interdependence

Colby College, Waterville, ME

June 1, 1975

PDF

A Backward Look Forward *

XII Suffolk Univ. L. Rev. 203

1978

PDF /

Two Thirds of a Century:  Sights Taken in 1911 and 1978

Cumberland County Bar Association

January 24, 1978

PDF

The Frontier of Remedies: A Call for Exploration *

67 California L. Rev. 983

1979

PDF /

Our Continuing Constitutional Convention: The Three Faces of Freedom

The Meiklejohn Lecture, Brown University

May 4, 1983

PDF

Living With Our Constitution

Maine Commission on the Bicentennial of the Constitution

September 17, 1986

PDF

A Genealogy of Founders *

39 U. ME L. Rev. 247

1987

PDF /

The Rocky Road to Ratification - and the Massachusetts Pot Hole

The Examiner Club

January 4, 1987

PDF

Judicial Balancing: The Protean Scales of Justice *

63 New York Univ. L. Rev. 16

1987

PDF /

Our Constitution: Edifice of Four Stories

The Davies Forum, University of San Francisco

April 27, 1987

PDF

 

IV.       The Legal Profession

 

The Faces of Advocacy

Harvard Legal Aid Bureau, Harvard Law School

March 10, 1966

PDF

The Bench and the Pit

Maine State Bar Association

August 24, 1966

PDF

A Gift to the Class of 1978

University of Maine School of Law

May 27, 1978

PDF

Shape of the Law - Eve of the Third Millennium

35th Reunion of the Harvard Law School Class of 1943

June 1978

PDF

The Judge as Advocate's Consumer: On Reading Briefs and Hearing Arguments

Boalt Hall School of Law, University of California, Berkley

February 27, 1979

PDF

Beyond Competence

Massachusetts Bar Foundation

June 19, 1981

PDF

Address to New Members of The Maine Bar

Cumberland County Courthouse

April 23, 1982

PDF

The Law - A Humanistic Profession?

The Morell E. Sharp Memorial Luncheon, Washington State Bar Foundation

1983

PDF

The Androscoggin Bar - Past and Future

Androscoggin County Bar Association

May 23, 1983

PDF

Finding Serenity in the Practice of Law

Renewing Fealty to the Law: A Liberal Arts Seminar for Lawyers, Grinnell College

June 9, 1984

PDF

Reflections on the Future as a Tool

Maine State Bar Association

January 20, 1984

PDF

Our Search for Shangri-Law

Maine State Bar Association

January 20, 1984

PDF

Looking Ahead at Our Profession

Rhode Island State Bar Association

June 22, 1984

PDF

Our Appellate Advocacy - A Unique and Wonderful Institution

Judicial Conference of the Second Circuit

September 13, 1984

PDF

Lecture on Oral Argument: Appellate Advocacy Colloquium

Franklin Pierce Law Center

November 18, 1985

PDF

Pressure Points in the Appellate Process

University of Maine School of Law

February 20, 1986

PDF

High Pressure Cookery: Warm Counsel and Hot Bencher

No venue noted

January 22, 1987

PDF

A Call for Renaissance In Legal Ethics

Boston University Law School

January 8, 1990

PDF

Federal Court Practice: A Day in the Life of the Federal Court, the Appellate Prospective

No venue noted

May 11, 1990

PDF

A Scroll from the Ashes

University of Maine School of Law

May 12, 1990

PDF

Remarks

Centenary Banquet, Maine State Bar Association

April 5, 1991

PDF

The Bar and the Courts: A New Dimension

New England Bar Association

September 27, 1991

PDF

Thoughts on "Looking Ahead"

Governance Institute Conference: The Law Firm and the Public Good

June 23, 1995

PDF

Time For A Second Wind

Cumberland Bar Association

January 24, 1996

PDF

Commencement Address

Boston College Law School

May 26, 1996

PDF

"Neither Trick Nor Treat"

Fall Forum II

October 31, 1996

PDF

Acceptance Remarks

Presentation of the Maine Bar Foundation's Howard H. Dana, Jr. Award, Maine State Bar Association

January 17, 1997

PDF

Remarks

30th Anniversary of Pine Tree Legal Assistance

December 1, 1997

PDF

Our Professionalism

First Circuit Judicial Conference

October 12, 1999

PDF

The Symbiotic Professions and the Appellate Process

The American College of Trial Lawyers

June 15, 2002

PDF

Remarks

10th Year Celebration of the Coffin Fellows Program

November 7, 2007

PDF

Remarks

Coffin Fellows Luncheon

September 18, 2006

PDF

Thinking Like A Lawyer

Commencement Address for the Class of 2008, University of Maine School of Law

May 24, 2008

PDF

 

V.        Legal Education

 

On the Importance of Being Yourself

Cape Elizabeth High School

June 16, 1966

PDF

Gullible's Travails: A Prospective Law Student Visits Brobdingnag, a Professional Corporation

Northeastern University School of Law 34 Journal of Legal Education

April 23, 1983

PDF

The Law School and the Profession: A Need for Bridges

Center for Study of Law, Nova University

January 28, 1987

11 Nova L. Rev. 1055

PDF

The Judicial Clerkship: A Venerable American Institution

Ninth Circuit Law Clerk Orientation Seminar

September 25, 1996

PDF

 

VI.       Tributes

 

On the Death of Martin Luther King, Jr. *

20 University of Maine L. Rev. 171

1968

PDF /

Judge Edward T. Gignoux Distinguished Service Award

Maine State Bar Association

June 20, 1983

PDF

Remarks at Induction of Judge Gene Carter

Federal Courthouse Portland, ME

July 5, 1983

PDF

Judge Edward T. Gignoux - A Personal   Appreciation *

36 University of Maine L. Rev. 191

1984

PDF /

Introduction of Congressman Barney Frank

Maine State Bar Association

January 25, 1985

PDF

Thomas E. Delahanty

Androscoggin County Courthouse

June 29, 1985

PDF

The Legend of Sirs John and Harry

Retirement of Court Officer and Reporter, Portland Country Club

January 10, 1986

PDF

Chronicle of the First Joint Revel of the Expanded (by spouses) High Courts of Maine and the First Circuit

First Circuit Maine Conference

March 7, 1986

PDF

Judge Bailey Aldrich Argument to the Really Supreme Court

First Circuit Judges Meeting

May 6, 1987

PDF

Remarks in Memory of Judge Charles E. Wyzanski, Jr.

Federal Courthouse, Boston, MA

June 9, 1987

PDF

Portrait Presentation

Edward T. Gignoux Courthouse

February 3, 1989

PDF

Reflections on the Presentation of my Portrait

Federal Courthouse, Boston, MA

September 8, 1989

PDF

Judge Hugh Bownes - One of a Kind

First Circuit Judges Meeting

February 8, 1990

PDF

Remarks at Induction of Judge D. Brock Hornby

Federal Courthouse, Bangor, ME

June 11, 1990

PDF

Remarks at the Portrait Presentation for Judge Frank M. Murray

Federal Courthouse, Boston, MA

October 23, 1990

PDF

Remarks at Induction of Judge Morton A. Brody

Federal Courthouse, Bangor, ME

October 7, 1991

PDF

Remarks at Portrait Presentation for Senior Circuit Judge Levin H. Campbell

Federal Courthouse, Boston, MA

October 9, 1992

PDF

Introduction of Justice William Brennan and Joseph L. Rauh, Jr.

First Coffin Lecture on Law and Social Policy, University of Maine School of Law

October 13, 1992

PDF

Remarks at Presentation of Portrait of Former Chief Justice Vincent McKusick of the Maine Supreme Judicial Court

Cumberland County Courthouse

June 17, 1993

PDF

Introduction of Arthur Schlesinger, Jr.

Second Annual Coffin Lecture on Law and Public Service

October 7, 1993

PDF

Remarks on Installation of Juan Torruella as Chief Judge of the US Court of Appeals for the First Circuit

Federal Courthouse, Boston, MA

September 7, 1994

PDF

Introduction of US Circuit Judge Patricia M. Wald

Third Annual Frank M. Coffin Lecture on Law and Public Service, University of Maine School of Law

September 28, 1994

PDF

A Maine Pantheon of Heroes and Worthies

The Neil W. Allen, Jr. Lecture on Maine Legal and Social History on the Occasion of the 175th Anniversary of Statehood

March 15, 1995

PDF

Introduction of Solicitor General Drew S. Days III

Fourth Annual Coffin Lecture on Law and Public Service, University of Maine School of Law

September 13, 1995

PDF

Introduction of Alvin J. Bronstein

Fifth Annual Coffin Lecture on Law and Public Service, University of Maine School of Law

October 8, 1996

PDF

Donald W. Webber: Memorial Remarks

Androscoggin County Courthouse

October 10, 1996

PDF

Jean Byers Sampson: Memorial Remarks

Bates College

December 1, 1996

PDF

Celebration of Bailey Aldrich's Commencement of his 10th Decade

The Harvard Club, Boston, MA

May 7, 1997

PDF

Introduction of Robert B. Reich

Sixth Annual Coffin Lecture on Law and Public Service, University of Maine School of Law

October 6, 1997

PDF

Remarks at the Unveiling of the Portrait of Justice Stephen G. Breyer

United States Courthouse, Boston, MA

January 5, 1998

PDF

Introduction of Warren Rudman

Seventh Annual Coffin Lecture on Law and Public Service, University of Maine School of Law

October 1, 1998

PDF

Remarks at Induction of Robert Katzman

United States Courthouse, NY

October 25, 1999

PDF

Introduction of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg

Eighth Annual Coffin Lecture on Law and Public Service, University of Maine School of Law

November 22, 1999

PDF

Remarks In Memory of Judge Morton A. Brody

Beth Israel Synagogue, Waterville, ME

March 27, 2000

PDF

Introduction of Alan Morrison

Ninth Annual Coffin Lecture on Law and Public Service

October 12, 2000

PDF

Introduction of Professor Chai Feldblum

Tenth Annual Coffin Lecture on Law and Public Service, University of Maine School of Law

October 15, 2001

PDF

Remarks In Memory of Judge Bailey Aldrich

First Circuit Conference, Chatham, MA

October 4, 2002

PDF

Judge Bailey Aldrich Memorial Remarks

Harvard Memorial Church

October 5, 2002

PDF

Dana H. Gallup Memorial Remarks

First Baptist Church

October 16, 2002

PDF

Introduction of Judge Cruz Reynoso

Eleventh Coffin Lecture on Law and Public Service

October 17, 2002

PDF

Remarks at Portrait Presentation for Daniel Wathen

Kennebec County Courthouse

April 11, 2003

PDF

Remarks at Induction of John Woodcock, Jr.

United State Courthouse, Bangor, ME

October 2, 2003

PDF

Introduction of Scott Harshbarger

Twelfth Coffin Lecture on Law and Public Service, University of Maine, School of Law

October 15, 2003

PDF

Memorial Remarks for Judge Hugh H. Bownes

United States Courthouse, Concord, NH

December 13, 2003

PDF

Video Tribute to Muskie Awardee Shep Lee and Comments on Brown v. Board of Education

Chambers

March 25, 2004

PDF

Introduction of Justice Richard J. Goldstone

Thirteenth Coffin Lecture on Law and Public Service, University of Maine School of Law

October 14, 2004

PDF

Edward Godfrey: The Passing of a Venerable

First Parish Church

February 5, 2005

PDF

Introduction of Eliot Spitzer

Fourteenth Coffin Lecture on Law and Public Service, University of Maine School of Law

October 18, 2005

PDF

Introduction of Kenneth R. Feinberg

Fifteenth Coffin Lecture on Law and Public Service, University of Maine School of Law

October 18, 2007

PDF

Chief Judge Judith Kaye

Sixteenth Coffin Lecture on Law and Public Service, University of Maine School of Law

November 6, 2008

PDF

Introduction of Dean Kurt L. Schmoke

Seventeenth Coffin Lecture on Law and Public Service, University of Maine School of Law

October 23, 2009

PDF

Portrait Presentation for Judge John D. Clifford, Jr.

Edward T. Gignoux Courthouse

November 6, 2009

PDF

 

* Requires published version of speech and permission from holder of the copyright.