United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit

The United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, cited as 4th Cir., is a federal appellate court seated in Richmond, Virginia, at the Lewis F. Powell Jr. United States Courthouse. It hears appeals from the federal district courts of Maryland, North Carolina (its Eastern, Middle and Western districts), South Carolina, Virginia (Eastern and Western) and West Virginia (Northern and Southern). With 15 authorized judgeships it is the fourth largest of the 13 United States courts of appeals. Its chief judge is not elected: the office rotates among the circuit judges by seniority for a seven-year term. Because Richmond lies close to Washington, the Chief Justice of the United States is always assigned to the circuit as circuit justice. The court is described as a collegial one, and by tradition its judges come down from the bench after each oral argument to greet the lawyers. Between 2000 and 2008 it had the highest rate of unpublished opinions among the federal circuits, at 92 percent.