Handbook I.B: Personnel

1. Judges

The Court has eleven authorized Circuit Judgeships. By statute, the administrative head of the Court is the Chief Judge, a position filled by the most senior judge under the age of 65 at the time the vacancy occurs. The Chief Judge serves until the age of 70, or for a period of 7 years, whichever occurs first.

In addition to carrying a regular caseload, the Chief Judge is responsible for the administrative business of the Court and the Circuit. The Chief Judge presides in the courtroom, at the Judicial Council meetings, at the Court's Executive Sessions, and at the Circuit Judicial Conference. The Chief Judge is also a member of the Judicial Conference of the United States.

Supplementing the judges in full-time "active" service on the Court are Senior Circuit Judges, who handle as full a caseload as they are willing and able to undertake.

2. Judges' Staffs

Circuit Judges are authorized to hire a total of five staff members. Typically, active judges employ one judicial assistant and four law clerks. In addition, the Chief Judge usually hires a Special Assistant for the duration of his or her term. No contact relating to court business is permitted between the judges' law clerks or judicial assistants and attorneys or other persons outside the Court. All communications must be made through the Clerk's Office.

3. Legal Division

The Legal Division is part of the Office of the Clerk. The Court's central legal staff consists of the Director, Deputy Directors, staff attorneys, and support staff. The office also occasionally hires attorneys for the Court’s Legal Fellows Program; these positions are temporary and unpaid. The primary duties of the staff attorneys fall into three broad categories: (1) screening and classifying cases and pleadings filed in the Court; (2) making recommendations to three-judge panels and preparing proposed dispositions in all contested motions and emergency matters; and (3) making recommendations and preparing proposed dispositions in cases decided without oral argument, pursuant to Circuit Rule 34(j).

In addition to supervising the work of the staff attorneys, the Director and Deputies assist panels in managing motions practice, briefing, and oral argument in major cases designated "Complex" under the Court's 1986 Case Management Plan, and in other cases deemed appropriate for management. The Legal Division also screens cases for inclusion in the Court's Appellate Mediation Program.

The Director is responsible for the hiring, training, and supervision of the central legal staff. The Director also works with the Court on major projects related to the Court's overall functioning, including the development and implementation of case processing procedures, and the revision of the Court's Circuit Rules and Handbook of Practice and Internal Procedures.

4. Circuit Executive’s Office

The Circuit Executive is appointed by the Circuit Judicial Council and serves the United States Court of Appeals, the United States District Court, and the United States Bankruptcy Court in the D.C. Circuit. As secretary to the Council, the Circuit Executive serves as the executive officer of the Council and is responsible for implementing Council policies, developing circuit-wide programs, organizing and staffing Council committees, and other duties mandated by the Judicial Conference of the United States or Congress.

The Circuit Executive’s Office was created in 1971 to improve the judicial process throughout the Circuit and to reduce the administrative burden on the judges. Circuit-wide responsibilities include:

Program management for: the judicial conduct and disability program; district and appellate court mediation programs; mailroom services; special events and ceremonies; occupant emergency plan; contract for cafeteria services; temporary emergency personnel fund; security coordination; space and facilities; and the circuit rent budget.

Program support for: senior judge designations; senior judge certifications; bankruptcy judge selection; federal public defender selection; and judges serving on committees of the Judicial Conference.

Serves as: Secretary to the Circuit Judicial Council; Secretary to the Circuit Judicial Conference; Secretary to the Historical Society of the D.C. Circuit; and Secretary to the D.C. Circuit’s Court Security Committee and Facility Security Committee.

Generally, the Circuit Executive provides support and advice to the Chief Judges of the Court of Appeals and the District Court on issues affecting the courts in the Circuit.

The Circuit Executive’s Office is also responsible for coordinating nonjudicial aspects of the Court of Appeals operations such as: budget development and oversight for appropriated and non-appropriated funds; emergency preparedness coordination including the continuity of operations; IT management and systems administration; management of the employment dispute resolution program and the equal employment opportunity program; property management; and administrative support for court advisory committees. Generally, the Circuit Executive works closely with the appellate court executives and the Circuit Chief Judge on administrative matters affecting the Court of Appeals.

The Circuit Executive's Office staff includes the Circuit Executive, a Deputy Circuit Executive, an Assistant Circuit Executive for Space and Facilities, an Assistant Circuit Executive for IT, an Assistant Circuit Executive for Administration, Administrative Specialists, IT and other staff, and a Director of Workplace Relations.

5. Clerk's Office

The Clerk's Office is composed of an administrative division, an operations division, and a legal division. See supra Part I.B.3. The Clerk's Office maintains the docket of the Court, the official record of all proceedings before the Court, and receives and maintains all filings in the Court, keeping them available for public inspection. It prepares and distributes the judges' sitting schedules and the Court's oral argument calendar; handles attorney admissions to the Court’s bar; and prints, records, and distributes all opinions and orders of the Court. The Clerk’s Office serves as the Court's liaison with attorneys, litigants, the media, and the general public.

The Clerk's Office also provides the Court with statistical, fiscal, personnel, training, and property and procurement services, as well as other administrative support services. The Clerk’s Office assists with investitures, portrait ceremonies, and other ceremonies, presentations, and special events.

6. Circuit Library

The Circuit Library is administered by the Circuit Librarian and the Associate Circuit Librarian.

7. Mediation Office

The Mediation Office is administered by the Chief Circuit Mediator, the Circuit Mediators, and a Program Coordinator. The work of the Office’s Appellate Mediation Program is described in Part IV.D, infra.