United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit

Pages67-68
JUDICIAL BRANCH 67
in off‌i ce at least 1 year, and has not
previously been chief judge, serves as
the chief judge of the circuit for a 7-year
term. One of the Justices of the Supreme
Court is assigned as circuit justice for
each of the 13 judicial circuits. Each
court of appeals normally hears cases in
panels consisting of three judges but may
sit en banc with all judges present.
The judges of each circuit (except
the Federal Circuit) by vote determine
the size of the judicial council for the
circuit, which consists of the chief judge
and an equal number of circuit and
district judges. The council considers
the state of Federal judicial business in
the circuit and may “make all necessary
and appropriate orders for [its] effective
and expeditious administration . . .” (28
U.S.C. 332).
The chief judge of each circuit
may summon periodically a judicial
conference of all judges of the circuit,
including members of the bar, to discuss
the business of the Federal courts of the
circuit (28 U.S.C. 333). The chief judge of
each circuit and a district judge elected
from each of the 12 geographical circuits,
together with the chief judge of the Court
of International Trade, serve as members
of the Judicial Conference of the United
States, over which the Chief Justice of
the United States presides. This is the
governing body for the administration of
the Federal judicial system as a whole (28
U.S.C. 331).
To obtain a complete list of judges,
court off‌i cials, and off‌i cial stations of the
United States Courts of Appeals for the
Federal Circuit, as well as information
on opinions and cases before the court,
consult the Judicial Circuit Web sites
listed below.
List of Judicial Circuit Web Sites—United States Courts of Appeals
Circuit URL
District of Columbia Circuit http://www.cadc.uscourts.gov
First Circuit http://www.ca1.uscourts.gov
Second Circuit http://www.ca2.uscourts.gov
Third Circuit http://www.ca3.uscourts.gov
Fourth Circuit http://www.ca4.uscourts.gov
Fifth Circuit http://www.ca5.uscourts.gov
Sixth Circuit http://www.ca6.uscourts.gov
Seventh Circuit http://www.ca7.uscourts.gov
Eighth Circuit http://www.ca8.uscourts.gov
Ninth Circuit http://www.ca9.uscourts.gov
Tenth Circuit http://www.ca10.uscourts.gov/
Eleventh Circuit http://www.ca11.uscourts.gov/
United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit
This court was established under Article
III of the Constitution pursuant to the
Federal Courts Improvement Act of 1982
(28 U.S.C. 41, 44, 48), as successor to the
former United States Court of Customs
and Patent Appeals and the United States
Court of Claims. The jurisdiction of the
court is nationwide (as provided by 28
U.S.C. 1295) and includes appeals from
the district courts in patent cases; appeals
from the district courts in contract, and
certain other civil actions in which the
United States is a defendant; and appeals
from f‌i nal decisions of the U.S. Court
of International Trade, the U.S. Court
of Federal Claims, and the U.S. Court
of Appeals for Veterans Claims. The
jurisdiction of the court also includes
the review of administrative rulings
by the Patent and Trademark Off‌i ce,
U.S. International Trade Commission,
Secretary of Commerce, agency boards
of contract appeals, and the Merit
Systems Protection Board, as well
as rulemaking of the Department of
Veterans Affairs; review of decisions of

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