Know Your Ninth Circuit Panel: Who Gets Invited?

Last week, we noted that the Ninth Circuit's visiting judges together perform the work of roughly 6 additional Ninth Circuit judges. But who, exactly, secures an invite to help serve as these supplemental members of the Ninth Circuit? This week, we examine our data set of every case scheduled for argument between January 2014 and June 2020 (diligently compiled and carefully analyzed by Lydia Davenport and Carleigh Zeman) to get a better picture of what these visiting judges do when they're not helping the Ninth Circuit deal with its massive caseload.

All visiting judges are, of course, Article III judges, and they are drawn from the federal district courts, the other federal circuits, and the Court of International Trade. District court judges comprise the clear majority of Ninth Circuit invitees, accounting for approximately 79% of all guest sittings over the period investigated. Judges from the federal circuits account for another 19% of guest sittings. The