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Federal district judges sitting by designation? sitting by designation with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit

Federal district judges sitting by designation with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit: In response to this post of mine from last night, Seventh Circuit Chief Judge Frank H. Easterbrook emails:

District judges have indeed begun to sit with the Seventh Circuit, after a gap of more than 15 years.

This is not because the circuit needs assistance; our caseload has not had a net increase over the past five years. Anyway, asking active district judges to sit with a court of appeals does not increase the judicial system's capacity, since time devoted to appeals is lost to the district court.

I have invited the more recent appointees to the district court (those who have served five years or less) to sit with the court of appeals, so that they may get better acquainted with how the appellate process works in the Seventh Circuit. I also have urged judges of the court of appeals to sit occasionally on the district court. The judicial system as a whole is stronger when its members have experience with the process from beginning to end. Judicial knowledge and insight yield benefits for litigants. All of the circuit's district judges with five years or less or service have accepted and will sit with the Seventh Circuit for two days each before the end of May. Judge Kendall, who sat on January 20 and 22, is the first.

There are collateral benefits when appellate judges and district judges get to know one another as colleagues, instead of just people who meet occasionally at conferences and receptions--or who engage in a back-and-forth in opinions in an attempt explain why the other made a legal error. Working cooperatively helps.

The program is beginning with the more recent appointments. If it proves successful, invitations will be extended to district judges who have served longer. But I do not plan to invite any judge (district or appellate) from outside the circuit; those invitations would not have the benefits I've mentioned.

I thank Chief Judge Easterbrook for offering this explanation.

Full post as published by How Appealing on February 24, 2009 (boomark / email).