Evaluation of the United States Court of Appeals
for the Seventh Circuit
by the Chicago Council of Lawyers

I. Introduction

A. Reasons for Conducting this Evaluation

B. Overview of the Study

II. Recommendations for Criteria and Procedures for Selection of Judges to the Seventh Court

A. How Circuit Judges Have Been Selected

B. The Council Believes that Circuit Judges Should Be Selected by a Merit Selection Process

C. The Criteria the Council Has Used in Evaluating Candidates for Nomination to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit

D. The Qualities the Council Believes Should Be Possessed by the Next Few Appointments to the Seventh Circuit

III. Court Organization, Procedures and Decisional Principles

A. What the Court Does Well

B. Problems with the Court's Procedures and Decisional Principles

1. Fidelity to the facts of the case and the issues presented

2. Waiver and reaching out to decide issues that have not been briefed or that need not be decided 1

a. The Court should not decide unbriefed issues

b. The Court's practice on waiver is inconsistent

c. The Court is willing to decide issues which are, or should be, before another forum, or are otherwise not neecessary to the resolution of a case

C. Comments on the Court's Operation and Internal Procedures

1. The Court's concern for its own needs

a. Excessive concern with jurisdiction and other procedural matters

b. Sanctions

c. Delay

d. Page limitations

2. Assignments to panels and opinions

3. Oral argument

4. Motions and staff law clerks

5. Appointments in pro bono cases

6. Court-assisted settlement efforts

7. Rehearings and rehearings en banc

8. The Circuit Judicial Council and the discipline of judicial officers

9. Role of the Chief Judge

10. Civility

IV. Statistical Analysis of the Court and its Judges

A. Delay in Disposition of Appeals

B. Concurrences and Dissents

C. The Citation Analysis

V. Evaluation of Individual Judges

V. Methodology