The Director of the Administrative Office of the United States Courts has issued his Annual Report, entitled “Judicial Business of the United States Courts.” The report, available here, is over 400 pages long and includes information about the courts of appeal, the district courts, and other lower courts, such as the court of claims, nationwide.
The report reveals that the Third Circuit reversed only 8.7% of district court decisions last year. In other recent years, the reversal average has hovered just above or below 10%, which shows how difficult it is to achieve a reversal. In that same period, the Supreme Court of the United States granted only four petitions for certiorari from decisions of the Third Circuit. Thus, as rare as it is to get a reversal in the Third Circuit, it is even more extraordinary for the Supreme Court to review a Third Circuit ruling.
The Third Circuit heard oral argument in only 13.9% of appeals last year. The court took an average of 3.3 months from the date of oral argument to issue its decision. Decisions of the Third Circuit are overwhelmingly likely to be designated unpublished. Last year, 89.8% of all Third Circuit rulings were so designated.