At a recent Constitution Day event, Duke Prof. Marin Levy and Second Circuit Judge Jon Newman discussed their upcoming book “Written and Unwritten: The Rules, Internal Procedures, and Customs of the United States Courts of Appeals.” The book details the different local rules and practices among the 13 federal appeals courts, through interviews with the chief judges of every circuit and surveys of clerks of court.
Examples in the article are:- the Ninth Circuit's rule about notification of delay, i.e., contact the clerk if a motion is pending for more than four months or if oral argument or submission hasn't occurred within 15 months after briefing; or if a petition for rehearing has been pending for over 6 months.
- The Federal Circuit's rule to show respect to district courts by not referring to them as "the court below" or the "lower court" or "judge below" and instead simply use "district court" or "trial court" or "the district judge."
- The Second Circuit's local rule setting a cut off at 90 days for the opening brief, so the court isn't bothered with motions to extend the usual 40-day deadline. "The circuit allows the parties to set their own preferred briefing deadline at any point within the 90 days."
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