The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit posted the cases it will hear when it sits in Philadelphia as part of its November session, the court announced Oct. 14. The court will hear cases Nov. 1 and 2 at the law schools of Villanova University, Drexel University, the University of Pennsylvania and Temple University. On Nov. 3, the court will seat two panels at the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, one panel in ceremonial courtroom, the other in courtroom 6A.

Judge Stephen Vaden never sought his nomination to the Court of International Trade. Rather, during a trip to San Francisco while serving as general counsel to USDA, he got an intriguing phone call. Using his deductive powers, Vaden knew the call could only have originated from one place: 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. Walking on the streets of San Francisco, he waited until he could slip back into his hotel to take the call, because who takes a call from the White House on the street?

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit will be closed on both Thursday, Nov. 24, and Friday, Nov. 25, for Thanksgiving, the court said in an Oct. 4 order. Nov. 25 will be considered a "legal holiday" for the purposes of computation of time and motions to enlarge time under the Federal Rule of Appellate Procedure and Federal Circuit Rule 26, the court said.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit on Sept. 30 appointed new members to the court's Advisory Council. Chief Judge Kimberly Moore added Eldora Ellison, director at Sterne Kessler; Michelle Klancnik, assistant general counsel at the International Trade Commission; Roman Martinez, partner at Latham & Watkins; and Sonal Mehta, partner at WilmerHale, to the council. Each appointee will serve a three-year term commencing Oct. 1, the court said. The Advisory Council reviews, studies and makes recommendations on the court's rules of practice and internal operating procedures while also serving as a conduit between the public and the court over its procedural rules, the court said.

A bill that would make searches free on the Public Access to Court Electronic Records (PACER) service is estimated to add $77 million to the federal deficit from 2022 to 2032, the Congressional Budget Office said in a report.

The Court of International Trade in a pair of administrative orders extended both the preliminary injunction enjoining liquidation of unliquidated entries subject to the massive Section 301 litigation and the order telling the U.S. to refund duties should the Section 301 plaintiffs be successful in unassigned Section 301 challenges. In July 2021, the court temporarily suspended liquidation of the subject imports. Judge Mark Barnett extended this order via an administrative order to unassigned Section 301 cases.

The Judicial Conference of the U.S., the federal court system's policymaking body, extended the pandemic-era exception to its broadcasting policy by another 120 days, following President Joe Biden's move to end the emergency conditions put in place due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The policy allows the use of teleconferencing to enable the public and media members to listen in on civil and bankruptcy court proceedings while access to the courthouse is restricted.

The Senate on Sept. 20 voted to confirm Judge Florence Pan to fill now-Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown-Jackson's spot on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. The vote was 52-42 in favor of confirmation, with six senators not voting. The vote split largely along party lines, though three Republicans joined their Democratic colleagues in voting for the judge. Pan was elevated to the court after previously serving on the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. The vote marks the second time Pan has filled a seat left vacant by Brown-Jackson, after the justice left the D.C. District Court to join the D.C. appellate court. With her confirmation, Pan becomes the first Chinese-American to serve on the key appeals court panel.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit reopened the National Courts Building to the public Sept. 12, the court announced. The move was made "based on recent changes to public health guidance and conditions within Washington D.C. and the National Capital Region," the court said. The decision's order specified all visitors must wear N-95, KN-95 or KF-94 masks, regardless of vaccination status. The court may also implement further health and safety protocols as needed, it said.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit changed the label on a key antidumping duty decision from "nonprecedential" to "precedential." The decision stated that the Commerce Department cannot select just one mandatory respondent in an antidumping duty review where multiple exporters have requested a review (see 2208290026). The appellate court said that Commerce's interpretation of the statute finding that it can use only one respondent runs "contrary to the statute's unambiguous language." The judges ruled the agency has not shown it to be otherwise reasonable to calculate the all-others rate based on only one respondent and said the directive to find a weighted average gives no reason that it's reasonable to use only a single rate. The decision was originally listed as "nonprecedential," but the court later reversed that (YC Rubber Co. v. United States, Fed. Cir. #21-1489).