Introduction to
the Anatomy of a
Lawsuit
Court of Appeals
Once the case has been decided by a judge or jury
at the district court level, either party to the lawsuit can appeal the decision to the
circuit court of appeals if the party is dissatisfied with the outcome. If a party decides
to appeal, that party becomes the appellant. The party that did not appeal is
referred to as the appellee. As a result, either the plaintiff or the defendant can
be the appellant, and either the plaintiff or the defendant can be the appellee. It just
depends upon which side decides to appeal.
As the name implies, the federal circuit courts
of appeals are organized into circuits. Each circuit is comprised of one or more states
(along with the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands,
Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands and even the District of the Canal Zone).
To see which Circuit you live in, check the list
below:
1st Circuit
Maine
Massachusetts
New Hampshire
Puerto Rico
Rhode Island |
2d Circuit
Connecticut
New York
Vermont |
3d Circuit
Delaware
New Jersey
Pennsylvania
Virgin Islands |
4th Circuit
Maryland
North Carolina
South Carolina
Virginia
West Virginia |
5th Circuit
District of the Canal Zone
Louisiana
Mississippi
Texas |
6th Circuit
Kentucky
Ohio
Michigan
Tennessee |
7th Circuit
Illinois
Indiana
Wisconsin |
8th Circuit
Arkansas
Iowa
Minnesota
Missouri
Nebraska
North Dakota
South Dakota |
9th Circuit
Arizona
California
Guam
Idaho
Nevada
Northern Mariana Islands
Oregon
Washington |
10th Circuit
Colorado
Kansas
New Mexico
Oklahoma
Utah
Wyoming |
11th Circuit
Alabama
Florida
Georgia |
D.C. Circuit
District of Columbia |
To understand how a circuit court of appeals
works, let's look at the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals. It covers the states of:
Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio and Tennessee. If a lawsuit is tried in the district court in one
of these states and a party decides to appeal, the appeal is heard by the Sixth Circuit
Court of Appeals (or more commonly, the Sixth Circuit).
The Sixth Circuit is physically located in
Cincinnati, Ohio. There are approximately 12 circuit court judges. Each
case on appeal is decided by a three-judge panel. The attorneys for each side are required
to submit written briefs explaining their positions and then the attorneys travel to
Cincinnati for oral argument. Each side is usually given 15 minutes to explain their
position to the three-judge panel and to answer any questions the panel may have. After
oral argument, the panel either reaches a consensus as to what the decision should be or
they literally vote amongst themselves as to what should be the majority
decision.
The decision does not have to be unanimous. Then the panel will issue a written
opinion explaining its decision. The parties doe not learn how the case is decided
until the written opinion is issued -- and that can take up to a year or more after oral
argument.
Since the three-judge panel does not have to be
in complete agreement as to its decision, the written opinion may sometimes have a
concurring
opinion and/or a dissenting opinion -- in addition to the majority
opinion
(which is the decision of a majority of the three-judge panel).
A concurring opinion is written by a judge who
voted for the majority opinion, but wishes to express a slightly different view
from that expressed by the judge who wrote the majority opinion. A dissenting opinion is
written by a judge who voted against the majority opinion. Also, some opinions may contain
an opinion from a judge in which the judge concurs in part with the majority opinion and
dissents in part from the majority opinion.
If either party is unhappy with the decision from
the three-judge panel, then that party can either (1) ask the three-judge panel to
reconsider its decision; (2) request a hearing before all of the judges from that circuit
(called a hearing en banc and pronounced "òn bónk"); or (3) ask the
U.S. Supreme Court to hear the case. Moreover, a party can pursue just about any
combination of these three options. But if a party wishes to pursue each of these three
options, they must be pursued in the order they are set forth above.
Finally, while a party can try to pursue any of
these three options, the party does not automatically have a right to any of these three
options. If the three-judge panel does not want to
reconsider its decision, then it will deny the motion to reconsider. If the Sixth Circuit,
en banc, does not
want to hear the appeal, then it will deny the motion for hearing en banc. The third option, petition to the
U.S. Supreme Court,
is discussed below.
U.S. Supreme Court
A party who is dissatisfied with the outcome in
the court of appeals can ask the Supreme Court to hear the case by filing a petition for
writ of certiorari. If the petition is granted, the case is heard. But most times
the petition is denied -- and that is the end of the matter.
If the case is heard by the
U.S. Supreme Court, all
nine justices will participate in deciding the case unless one of them recuses (same as
excuses) himself or herself from that particular case. The party who filed the petition is
referred to as the "petitioner" and the party responding to the petition is
referred to as the "respondent."
Both the petitioner and respondent will file
written briefs explaining their positions. Also, they will typically travel to Washington,
D.C. to participate in oral argument. Several weeks or months after the case is argued,
the Court will issue a written opinion.
There is no right of appeal beyond the United
States Supreme Court.
