Blawgletter summons from our law school days a recollection about the relative prestige and reputation of the U.S. courts of appeals (now 13, then 11). The Second Circuit stood high on the list. It still does. And we think it deserves its standing.
The court's opinion yesterday in W. R. Huff Mgmt. Co., LLC v. Deloitte & Touche, LLP , No. 06-1664-cv (2d Cir. Dec. 3, 2008), illustrates why. It follows the Second Circuit's unique protocol for opinion-writing. Which protocol entails:
- Identifying the "term" in which the court docketed the appeal;
- Stating the dates on which the court heard argument and decided the appeal, respectively;
- Naming the judges on the panel;
- Pithily capturing, usually in a single paragraph, the name of the trial court judge, the procedural posture of the case, the lower court's ruling, the principal issues on appeal, and the court's holding;
- Listing the names of counsel and their respective clients; and
- In the body of the opinion, making a compelling case for the panel's decision.
Judge for yourself the helpfulness of the court's summary of the appeal and its outcome:
Defendants-appellants filed this interlocutory appeal from two orders of the United States Distrct Court for the Southern District of New York (Lawrence M. McKenna, Judge), denying their motion to dismiss the plaintiff-appellee's complaint for lack of standing, and adhering to that decision upon reconsideration. We reverse on the ground that plaintiff, an investment advisor that has (a) the discretionary authority to make investment decisions on its clients' behalf, and (b) the power of attorey to file suit on its clients' behalf, but does not have ownership or title of the claim itself, lacks constitutional standing to bring a securites action in a representative capacity on behalf of its clients.
W. R. Huff, slip op. at 1-2. We couldn't have said it better ourselves.
