United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit

• Pages: 67-68

JUDICIAL BRANCH 67

in off‌ice 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...”(28U.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 off‌icials, and off‌icial 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 f‌inal 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 Off‌ice,

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

the U.S. Senate Committee on Ethics

concerning discrimination claims of