Circuit Rule 32.1: Publication of Opinions
Circuit Rules and Operating Procedures of the Seventh Circuit — Title VII. General Provisions
(a) Policy. It is the policy of the circuit to avoid issuing unnecessary opinions.
(b) Publication. The court may dispose of an appeal by an opinion or an order. Opinions, which may be signed or per curiam, are released in printed form, are published in the Federal Reporter, and constitute the law of the circuit. Orders, which are unsigned, are released in photocopied form, are not published in the Federal Reporter, and are not treated as precedents. Every order bears the legend: “Nonprecedential disposition. To be cited only in accordance with Fed. R. App. P. 32.1.”
(c) Motion to change status. Any person may request by motion that an order be reissued as an opinion. The motion should state why this change would be appropriate.
(d) Citation of older orders. No order of this court issued before January 1, 2007, may be cited except to support a claim of preclusion (res judicata or collateral estoppel) or to establish the law of the case from an earlier appeal in the same proceeding.