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Alaska Courts Case Management System.
This Web site allows the user to review appellate case information based on the assigned case number.
Case Management Software Information.
Descriptions of appellate, district and county, and justice of the peace and municipal case management systems in Texas from the Texas Office of Court Administration (OCA).
Federal Judicial Center: Appellate Case Managment.
The Federal Judicial Center site provides available resources on the topic of appellate case managment.
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"Law School Forms State Supreme Court Initiative."
Williamsburg, VA: William and Mary News and Events (March 2009).
The Institute for the Bill of Rights Law at the William and Mary Law School and the National Center for State Courts have partnered to form the State Supreme Court Initiative.
Choi, Stephen J., Mitu Gulati and Eric A. Posner
Which States Have the Best (and Worst) High Courts?.
SSRN: Working Paper Series (May 2008).
Abstract of paper that provides a survey of existing state court ranking literature and a new ranking study based on three measures of quality (productivity, influence, and independence) for the judges of the highest court of each state for the years 1998-2000.
State Court of Last Resort Appellate Filing Fees.
Administrative Office, West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals (2008).
This is a table containing each state’s court of last resort appellate fees. Where available, the table also includes the statutory citation or court rule setting fees, and distribution of funds from fee collection.
McEwen, S.J.
"On The Effective Use of Resources in Pennsylvania."
Court Review 35: 48 (Fall 1998).
This brief essay explains how the Pennsylvania Supreme Court was able to maintain a judicial efficiency record that went beyond the American Bar Association's recommendation of 75 percent case resolution in 290 days or less.
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Latzer, Barry and James N. G. Cauthen
Justice Delayed? Time Consumption in Capital Appeals: A Multistate Study.
John Jay College of Criminal Justice, The City University of New York (2007).
This study focuses on the time taken to process direct appeals of capital cases in the courts of last resort for fourteen states between January 1, 1992 and December 31, 2002. The fourteen states are: Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Missouri, Nevada, New Jersey, North Carolina, Ohio, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, and Washington.
Latzer, Barry, and James N. G. Cauthen
"Capital Appeals Revisted."
Judicature 84, no. 2 (September 2000).
This article challenges the "68 Percent Error Found in Death Case Study" citing that the latter study did not differentiate between overturned convictions and reversals of death sentences.
Coyle, Marcia
"68 Percent Error Found in Death Case Study."
The National Law Journal (June 2000).
This article discusses a study by law professor James S. Liebman, of Columbia University that found federal and state courts have overturned 68 percent of the death sentences they have reviewed because of serious errors in their trials.
Hanson, Roger A.
Federal Habeas Corpus Review: Challenging State Court Criminal Convictions.
Bureau of Justice Statistics (1995).
This report examines habeas corpus petitions in 18 Federal Districts located in nine states looking at issues raised, type of offense, sentence, outcome, and reason for dismissal.
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Pierce, Martha
"Making Appeals More Child Friendly ."
Utah State Bar Journal 17, no. 3 (April 2004).
This article reviews the process Iowa used to make changes in the appellate courts to expedite dependency appeals and discusses how Utah can apply a similar strategy.
Preliminary Report of Court of Appeals Dependency Appeals Work Group.
The Michigan Court of Appeals (November 2002).
The Michigan Court of Appeals reviewed the process by which it receives and resolves dependency appeals and came up with proposals for improvement in delay reduction.
Journal of Appellate Practice and Process Vol. 4.
(Spring 2002).
This volume of the journal contains several articles dealing with expedited dependency appeals. (K10 .O839)
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Appellate Court Facilities Guidelines.
Judicial Council of California, Administrative Office of the Courts (2002).
This report provides guidelines for building appellate court facilities including sections on general facilities design, courtrooms, judicial offices and support space, court administration, court and building support, and security. An appendix provides information on lighting, acoustics, and heating, ventilating and air conditioning.
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Spaeth, Harold
The Supreme Court Database.
National Science Foundation.
The Supreme Court Database is the definitive source for researchers, students, journalists, and citizens interested in the U.S. Supreme Court. The Database contains over two hundred pieces of information about each case decided by the Court between the 1953 and 2008 terms. Examples include the identity of the court whose decision the Supreme Court reviewed, the parties to the suit, the legal provisions considered in the case, and the votes of the Justices.
Baker, Thomas E.
A Primer on the Jurisdiction of the U.S. Courts of Appeals 2d Ed..
Federal Judicial Center (2009).
A brief overview of the subject matter jurisdiction of the U.S. Courts of Appeals including appeals from final decisions, interlocutory appeals, writs, criminal appeals, and administrative appeals.
Edwards, Harry T.
The Effects of Collegiality on Judicial Decision Making.
University of Pennsylvania Law Review (May 2003).
Judge Edwards discusses the impact of collegiality on decision making based on his experiences on the United States Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit.
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Oregon Court of Appeals Internal Practices Guidelines.
Oregon Judicial Department (July 2007).
This publication describes the internal workings of the court, from filing of documents that trigger the court's appellate jurisdiction to the issuance of judgments that end it.
Binford, W. Warren H, Preston C. Greene, Maria C. Schmidlkofer, Robert M. Wilsey and Hillary A. Taylor
Seeking Best Practices Among Intermediate Courts of Appeal: A Nascent Journey.
The Journal of Appellate Practice and Process (Spring 2007).
In 2006, the Willamette Court Study Committee went on a quest to uncover the best practices in intermediate appellate courts.
Report to the 74th Regular Session of the Nevada State Legislature, 2007 Regarding the Creation of the Nevada Court of Appeals.
Supreme Court of Nevada (March 2007).
A detailed report outlining the necessity of creating an intermediate court of appeals in Nevada. It offers a comparison of other jurisdictions with and without an intermediate court of appeals. (KFN1158.A4N45 2007)
Directory of Judges of State Courts of Appeal.
Council of Chief Judges of Courts of Appeal (2005).
This document provides the history of the CCJCA organization, its structural makeup, and its constitution.
Hoffman, Richard B., and Barry Mahoney
"Managing Caseflow in State Intermediate Appellate Courts."
Denver: Justice Management Institute (2001).
What Mechanisms, Practices, and Procedures Can Work to Reduce Delay? This report makes recommendations for improvements in state intermediate appellate courts caseflow managment.
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In Re: Arkansas Supreme Court and Court of Appeals Rules 5-2.
Supreme Court of Arkansas (May 2009).
Effective July 1, 2009 the electronic version of appellate decisions posted on the Arkansas Judiciary website will be the official report of those decisions. Publication of the Arkansas Reports and Arkansas Appellate Reports will end.
Owens, Theresa
Committee to Study the Impact of Allowing Unpublished Opinion Cites.
The Third Branch (Spring 2009).
The Wisconsin Supreme Court authorized the citation of unpublished opinions, a change that a number of other states are watching closely. Wisconsin's process for assessing the impact of the new rule is expected to serve as an assessment tool for other states considering a citation rule amendment.
Oregon Appellate Courts Style Manual.
Oregon Judicial Department (2002).
Oregon Appellate Courts have adopted this style manual as a guideline for writing opinions. It is not all-inclusive nor an attempt to dictate writing style. See ORAP 5.20(4) (referring to Style Manual as guide to conventions in style and citation).
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National Conference of Appellate Court Clerks.
The National Conference of Appellate Court Clerks was organized in 1973, with current members throughout state and federal appellate courts. The Conference has three main objectives: to improve the skill and knowledge required of those performing the duties of appellate court clerks by conferences, seminars or other educational programs; to promote and improve the contribution of the offices of appellate court clerks within the area of effective court administration; to maintain facilities for the collection and dissemination of information and ideas with regard to the operation and improvement of the offices of appellate court clerks.
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Final Report of the Appellate CourTools Committee.
Supreme Court of Arizona (May 2009).
The committee identified six performance measurements and has completed the first phase of implementing five of the measures: 1) Appellate Bar and Trial Bench Survey 2) On Time Case Processing 3) Cost-Effective Case Processing (not yet implemented) 4) Case Clearance 5) Age of Pending Caseload 6) Employee Engagement Survey.
Performance Measures Key Results and Measures.
Minnesota Judicial Branch (January 2009).
This report contains the complete results for the Judicial Branch performance measurement effort including appellate data.
Montana Supreme Court Performance Measures.
(2008).
This survey of appellate lawyers, district court judges and Montana Law School faculty was used to rate the court’s performance.
Oregon Court of Appeals Survey of Appellate Bar and Trial Bench .
(March 2007).
This online survey of attorneys and Circuit Court judges involved with cases decided by the Court of Appeals from July to December 2006 looked at factors of quality, timeliness and efficiency, and public trust and confidence.
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New Mexico Court of Appeals: Statistics.
The Court of Appeals compiles statistics on how long it takes to decide an appeal, as well as how long the various steps on an appeal take, on how many cases are affirmed and reversed, and on the number of dispositions.
Appellate Evaluation of Judges Eligible for Retention in 2008.
Alaska Judicial Council (May 2008).
This memorandum provides an explanation and examination of the review process used to evaluate superior and district court judges’ performance based on their civil and criminal affirmance rates.
Eisenberg, Theodore and Michael Heise
Plaintiphobia in State Court? An Empirical Study of State Court Trials on Appeal.
Cornell Law School Legal Studies Research Paper Series. (May 2007).
This study presents a statistical model of the appeals process for a comprehensive set of state court civil trials using data from 46 large counties. The study found that the reversal rates for jury trials and appeals by defendants exceeded the reversal rates for bench trials and appeals by plaintiffs.
Cohen, Thomas H.
Appeals from General Civil Trials in 46 Large Counties, 2001-2005.
Bureau of Justice Statistics (June 2006).
This report presents information on general civil cases concluded by bench or jury trial in 2001 that were subsequently appealed to a State’s intermediate appellate court or court of last resort.
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The Journal of Appellate Practice and Process .
The Journal of Appellate Practice and Process is the only scholarly law journal to focus exclusively on issues, practices, and procedures of appellate court systems. The journal is edited by faculty members of the University of Arkansas at Little Rock William H. Bowen School of Law. (K10 .O839)
Baker, Thomas E.
"Applied Freakonomics: Explaining the Crisis of Volume."
The Journal of Appellate Practice and Process 8, no. 1: 101 (Spring 2006).
"Freakonomics" refers to the bestselling work about rational human behavior in their everyday environments. In this article, Baker argues that the “crisis of volume” anticipated in the appellate courts never materialized because the internal processes of the courts were inefficient before the caseload increase. As the volume of cases increased, appellate judges and the court systems reacted by processing cases more efficiently, and thus a caseload crisis was avoided. (K10 .O839)
Posner, Richard A.
"Demand and Supply Trends in Federal and State Courts Over the Last Half Century."
The Journal of Appellate Practice and Process 8, no. 1: 133 (Spring 2006).
Judge Posner sits on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit. His perception of the increase in appellate court caseloads mirrors those of Baker in “Applied Freakonomics: Explaining the ‘Crisis of Volume.’” Judge Posner explains that as the volume of cases increased, the courts and justices reacted by working more efficiently. (K10 .O839)
Katzmann, Robert A.
"No Court Is an Island."
The Journal of Appellate Practice and Process 8, no. 1: 115 (Spring 2006).
The author explains that the efficiency of the appellate courts cannot be observed outside of the context of complex interactions among all branches of government. Katzmann describes the relationships among the executive, legislative, and judicial branches and how actions in one branch can impact the efficiencies in the others, especially the federal appellate courts. (K10 .O839)
"Statement on the Functions and Future of Appellate Lawyers."
The American Academy of Appellate Lawyers: The Journal of Appellate Practice and Process 8, no. 1: 1 (Spring 2006).
The topic of appellate lawyers has hardly been researched or studied. This article discusses the role of appellate lawyers within the context of the appellate court system. It notes appellate lawyers act as advocates for increased appellate resources, which tangentially can improve overall court efficiency. (K10 .O839)
Meador, Daniel J., Thomas E. Baker, and Joan E. Steinman
Appellate Courts: Structures, Functions, Processes, and Personnel 2d Edition.
LexisNexis (2006).
This extensive scholarly work explains in detail appeals courts, the appellate review, judicial lawmaking, the dramatic increase in caseload volume, and many other topics. (KF8750 .M431 2006)
Standards Relating to Appellate Courts.
American Bar Association, Judicial Administration Division (1994).
The final draft of the Standards Relating to Court Organization focuses on appellate review, assistance of counsel, decision processes, appellate court administration, caseflow management, facilities, services, and judicial review. (KF8750 .A95 1994)
Neubauer, David
Winners and Losers: Dispositions of Criminal Appeals Before the Louisiana Supreme Court.
Justice Quarterly 8: 85 (1991).
Trial court dispositions of criminal cases have been researched extensively, but little is known about the disposition of the relatively small number of criminal cases that are appealed. This article undertakes to fill this gap by analyzing patterns of winners and losers before the Louisiana Supreme court. (KF9223 A15 J8)
Novak, Rita M
Delay on Appeal: A Process for Identifying Causes and Cures.
American Bar Association (1990).
Focusing on time efficiency within the appellate courts, this book researches step in developing a delay reduction program, how to organize the program, and the best way to design a delay reduction program. (KF8727 .Z95 N68)
Oakley, J., and R. Thompson
"Law Clerks and the Judicial Process."
University of California Law Review 68 (1980).
This book studies the impact of law clerks on judicial decisions. It analyzes four different courts: the Supreme Court of California, the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, the four district courts in California, and the five California court of appeals. The book addresses the historical context of law clerks, the judge-law clerk relationship, and the results of interviewing sixty-three federal and state judges. The research was conducted from 1976-1979. (KF8807 .O2)
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