The United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit (in

case citation Case citation is a system used by legal professionals to identify past court case decisions, either in series of books called reporters or law reports, or in a neutral style that identifies a decision regardless of where it is reported. Case ci ...

s, 4th Cir.) is a federal court located in

Richmond, Virginia (Thus do we reach the stars) , image_map = , mapsize = 250 px , map_caption = Location within Virginia , pushpin_map = Virginia#USA , pushpin_label = Richmond , pushpin_m ...

, with

appellate jurisdiction A court of appeals, also called a court of appeal, appellate court, appeal court, court of second instance or second instance court, is any court of law that is empowered to hear an appeal of a trial court or other lower tribunal. In much of t ...

over the district courts in the following

districts A district is a type of administrative division that, in some countries, is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or counties, several municipalities, subdivisions o ...

: * District of Maryland *

Eastern District of North Carolina The United States District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina (in case citations, E.D.N.C.) is the United States district court that serves the eastern 44 counties in North Carolina. Appeals from the Eastern District of North Caroli ...

* Middle District of North Carolina *

Western District of North Carolina The United States District Court for the Western District of North Carolina (in case citations, W.D.N.C.) is a federal district court which covers the western third of North Carolina. Appeals from the Western District of North Carolina are tak ...

* District of South Carolina *

Eastern District of Virginia The United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia (in case citations, E.D. Va.) is one of two United States district courts serving the Virginia, Commonwealth of Virginia. It has jurisdiction over the Northern Virginia, H ...

* Western District of Virginia * Northern District of West Virginia *

Southern District of West Virginia The United States District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia (in case citations, S.D. W. Va.) is a federal court in the Fourth Circuit (except for patent claims and claims against the U.S. government under the Tucker Act, which are ...

The court is based at the

Lewis F. Powell Jr. United States Courthouse The Lewis F. Powell Jr. United States Courthouse, also known as the U.S. Post Office and Customhouse, is a historic custom house, post office and courthouse located in Richmond, Virginia. Originally constructed in 1858, it was for decades a courtho ...

Richmond, Virginia (Thus do we reach the stars) , image_map = , mapsize = 250 px , map_caption = Location within Virginia , pushpin_map = Virginia#USA , pushpin_label = Richmond , pushpin_m ...

. With 15 authorized judgeships, it is mid-sized among the 13

United States Courts of Appeals The United States courts of appeals are the intermediate appellate courts of the United States federal judiciary. The courts of appeals are divided into 11 numbered circuits that cover geographic areas of the United States and hear appeals fr ...

. __TOC__

Richmond Federal Appeals Court and skyline VA2

Current composition of the court

Vacancies and pending nominations

List of former judges

Chief judges

Succession of seats

Practice in the 4th Circuit

From 2000 to 2008, the Court had the highest rate of non-publication (92%) on the Federal Circuit. The Chief Justice is always assigned to the Fourth Circuit as the circuit advisory justice, due to Richmond's close proximity to Washington, D.C. The Fourth Circuit is considered an extremely collegial court. By tradition, the Judges of the Fourth Circuit come down from the bench following each

oral argument Oral arguments are spoken presentations to a judge or appellate court by a lawyer (or parties when representing themselves) of the legal reasons why they should prevail. Oral argument at the appellate level accompanies written briefs, which also a ...

to greet the lawyers.

References

External links

United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit

Recent opinions from Findlaw
{{DEFAULTSORT:United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit Organizations based in Richmond, Virginia Baltimore Charleston, West Virginia Alexandria, Virginia Government of Raleigh, North Carolina 1891 establishments in the United States Courts and tribunals established in 1891