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Category: Appellate procedure
Evading Creatively accommodating the D.C. Circuit’s word limits
Well, this is a new one—to us at least. Four years ago, the Federal Rules of Appellate procedure lowered the number of words allowed in …
Can an agency make a decision nonfinal by calling compliance voluntary?
Not if voluntary really means mandatory, said the D.C. Circuit this week. No. 19-1248, Spirit Airlines, Inc. v. U.S. Dep’t of Transp. (May 21, 2021). …
“Breeding closely related iguanas is not a good idea”
So held a panel of the D.C. Circuit on Friday. Well, to be precise, the panel held that this intriguing determination of the U.S. Fish and …
D.C. Circuit finds lack of substantial evidence—again
Courts rarely hold that agency decisions lack substantial evidence. Or so goes the conventional wisdom. And there’s something to it—see, for example, our recent post …
D.C. Circuit issues (unintentionally?) dueling rulings on whether the finality of agency actions is jurisdictional
It’s common for the D.C. Circuit to say that the finality of agency action is not jurisdictional. For example, it did so just last month—and …
Before you call the clerk’s office: Have you checked the Handbook?
Often we post on this blog about court opinions. But today we’re making a public service announcement: Before you call the clerk’s office with a …
Deciding whether to take a precautionary appeal
A new decision from the D.C. Circuit illustrates the challenge litigants face when an agency stubbornly refuses to change its mind. Nostrum Pharms ., LLC …
How far afield may amici go?
In a decision issued today, the court rejected an argument in an amicus brief because it was not made by the parties: Several environmental, community, …
When is it too late to intervene on appeal?
Motions practice is rarer in circuit court than in district court. Still more rare in circuit court is motions practice that prompts a written opinion. …
D.C. Circuit offers little-known en banc shortcut
Published opinions this past week exposed a fierce dispute on the D.C. Circuit over whether to take a case en banc. Two judges thought for …
