The Center has prepared this manual to help judges organize opinions and improve their opinion writing. Prepared with the assistance of judges, law professors, and writers, the manual offers advice on writing tailored to the needs of the federal judiciary.
Federal Rule of Appellate Procedure 32.1 permits attorneys to cite to federal courts of appeals their unpublished opinions issued 2007 or later. Unpublished opinions issued before 2007 may be cited to the courts if permitted by the courts' local rules.
Robert Timothy Reagan, Meghan A. Dunn, David Guth, Sean Harding, Andrea Henson-Armstrong, Laural L. Hooper, Marie Leary, Angelia N. Levy, Jennifer Evans Marsh, Robert J. Niemic
December 21, 2005
At its June 2004 meeting, the Standing Committee on Rules of Practice and Procedure asked the Appellate Rules Advisory Committee to ask the Federal Judicial Center to conduct empirical research that would help the Standing Committee in its consideration of a proposed new Federal Rule of Appellate
Tim Reagan, Meghan A. Dunn, David Guth, Sean Harding, Andrea Henson-Armstrong, Laural L. Hooper, Marie Leary, Angelia N. Levy, Jennifer Evans Marsh, Robert J. Niemic
June 1, 2005
The Appellate Rules Advisory Committee has written a new Rule 32.1 which permits attorneys and courts in federal appeals in all circuits to cite unpublished opinions.
Tim Reagan, Meghan A. Dunn, David Guth, Sean Harding, Andrea Henson-Armstrong, Laural L. Hooper, Marie Leary, Angelia N. Levy, Jennifer Evans Marsh, Robert J. Niemic
April 14, 2005
The Appellate Rules Advisory Committee has proposed a new Rule 32.1, which would permit attorneys and courts in federal appeals in all circuits to cite unpublished opinions.
A discussion of three aspects of opinion writing: preliminary considerations; the anatomy of the opinion; and peripheral matters such as citations, quotations, and the use of footnotes.
The results of a survey undertaken for the Commission on Revision of the Federal Court Appellate System, in which the attitudes of federal judges regarding appellate oral argument and opinion-writing practices were explored.