IOP Panel Process
United States Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims
INTERNAL OPERATING PROCEDURES
III. PANEL PROCESS
(a) Forming Panels, Disclosure of Panel Judges.
(1) Panels are selected by the Clerk, at the request of the assigned judge. Panels consist of the assigned judge and two other judges, selected by the Clerk at random with due regard to each judge's workload or availability. The Clerk provides copies of the docket, the record, the briefs, the screening judge's calendaring instructions, and CLS memoranda to the other panel members.
(2) The names of the panel members are made public. Publication of the names of the panel members does not guarantee that the composition of the panel will remain the same. Subsequent facts discovered may cause a judge to recuse himself; illness or other factors may require a change in the original composition of the panel. Substitution is made by the Clerk at random, with due regard to workload or availability.
(b) Oral Argument.
(1) Oral argument is allowed when ordered by the Court. Normally, oral argument is heard only by a panel of three judges upon the request of any judge. Exceptions may be made as circumstances require. Only the Court, sitting en banc, orders or grants a request for oral argument en banc.
(2) Each party is usually allowed thirty minutes in which to make argument. The panel makes any changes it desires in the format or order for presentation of argument, including the time allowed, limiting the argument to certain issues, or altering the usual order of presentation. The Clerk may also advise the parties of additional issues any member of the panel wishes addressed at oral argument.
(3) After oral argument is heard, the senior judge of the panel convenes a conference to discuss and tentatively decide the case. At the conference, the senior judge in the majority assigns authorship responsibility for the opinion.
(c) Panel Disposition Without Oral Argument.
(1) If a panel determines that a case that was originally set for oral argument should be removed from the calendar and disposed of at a conference, the Clerk issues an order notifying the parties of that decision.
(2) If a case is to be decided without oral argument, the senior judge on the panel, after consultation with the other panel judges, sets the conference date at which time the tentative decision will be made. The senior judge in the majority assigns authorship responsibility for the opinion.
(d) Dissolving Panels. If the panel members agree that the issues before the panel meet the standard enumerated in Frankel v. Derwinski, 1 Vet.App. 23 (1990), the screening judge, on behalf of the panel, notifies the Clerk, who issues an order revoking the panel assignment and returning the case to the screening judge.
