Researching the Judges Who Will Hear Your Appeal

Researching the Judges Who Will Hear Your Appeal

If you’re filing an appeal, one of the most important things you can do is research the judges who’ll be hearing your case. Knowing their backgrounds, judicial philosophies, past rulings, and tendencies can give you invaluable insight into how they might rule on your appeal.

Where do you even start with researching appeals court judges though? Here’s a quick guide to help you learn everything you can about the people who hold your fate in their hands.

Identify the Judges on Your Panel

The first step is figuring out which specific judges will be hearing your appeal. Unlike district court trials which are usually overseen by a single judge, federal appeals are heard by panels of three judges who are randomly assigned from the entire appeals court circuit.

You can call the circuit court clerk’s office to ask who is assigned to your panel. They likely won’t have that info until closer to your hearing date though, so you may need to keep checking in.

Look Up Backgrounds and Biographies

Once you know who your judges are, start researching their backgrounds. Check online biographies through sources like:

• Judicial bios from court websites
• Legal news publications
• Faculty pages if they were a law professor

Look for info on:

• Where they went to law school
• Previous legal roles (prosecutor, corporate lawyer, etc.)
• Judicial career and experience
• Professional associations and memberships
• Academic writings or published decisions
• Public speeches, comments, interviews

These can provide clues into their judicial philosophies, political leanings, thoughts on certain legal issues, past rulings, and more. Get to know them as people beyond just their title of “appeals court judge.”

Research Their Judicial History

Now dig into your judges’ actual track records as jurists. Look up their past rulings and dissent rates in sources like:

• Legal search engines like Google Scholar or Fastcase
• Paid services like Westlaw or LexisNexis
• Aggregator sites like CourtListener

Try to find cases similar to yours to gauge how they might rule. Pay attention to:

• Their affirmation and reversal rates
• How often they dissent from other judges
• Consistency across similar cases
• Reputation for certain tendencies (pro-business, pro-environment, etc.)

Remember that appeals courts hear cases in panels of three, so the other two judges will also influence the outcome. But insight into any single judge can be helpful.

Research Current Events and Views

Finally, get insight into your judges’ current mindsets by researching:

• Recent public statements, comments, interviews
• Involvement in legal associations and conferences
• Potentially relevant events like new book releases, upcoming speaking engagements, etc.

See if any hot topics or recent news might be influencing their perspectives on the law right now. For instance, a prominent First Amendment case in the headlines might make them think differently about free speech issues more broadly.

Why Bother Researching Judges?

Some lawyers argue researching judges is useless since you should just focus on the legal merits. But that ignores the human element. Judges are people too, with biases and perspectives that absolutely influence outcomes.

Others say judges decide cases primarily based on precedents and statutes rather than personal views. That’s largely true. But precedents and statutes often leave room for interpretation. Two judges can look at the same laws and reach different conclusions. Understanding what makes your particular judges tick can prove invaluable.

You probably won’t uncover anything outrageous from researching their bios, records, and public comments. But even small insights into how they might view specific legal arguments or be leaning on certain issues can drastically improve your odds on appeal.

The bottom line is that knowledge is power when it comes to the law. The more you know about the judges who control your fate, the better positioned you’ll be to tailor your arguments directly to them.

So do your homework! Those dusty old law books and hours on legal search engines will pay off big time. Trust me, when it comes to the appeals process, every tiny advantage counts.

Good luck researching those judges and with your appeal!