Set one oven rack 5 inches from the broiler element (the top) and a second rack 13 inches from the top.  Preheat the broiler.  Make three diagonal slashes in the skin of each chicken piece with a sharp knife (do not cut into the meat).    Season both sides of the chicken with salt, pepper and rosemary over a shallow roaster pan (so that the surplus seasoning gets caught in the pan).  Arrange the chicken pieces in the roaster pan skin-side down.  Broil the chicken on the bottom rack until just beginning to brown (about 15 minutes).  Turn the chicken skin-side up and continue to broil on the bottom rack until the skin in slightly crisp (about 15 minutes).  If necessary to crisp the skin, move the pan to the upper rack and broil until the chicken in dark spotty brown and the skin is thin and crisp (about 1 minute).  Remove the chicken to a serving platter.  De-glaze the roaster pan with the sherry and pour over the chicken.

Our comments:  We had a problem with our oven last year.  Allyson put it into self-clean mode and left the house.  A few minutes later, all hell broke loose as the smoking oven set off our fire alarm.  By the time the smoke cleared and the sirens stopped, I had rendered our oven permanently inoperable.  Thus, we got a new convection oven.  The “convection broil” mode makes some tremendous broiled chicken … the skin is thin and crisp while the chicken is juicy inside.