United States Courts of Appeals
Definition
The intermediate appellate courts of the United States federal judiciary that review decisions from district courts and federal agencies.
A set of 13 circuit courts tasked with ensuring the law was applied correctly in lower courts, rather than re-evaluating the underlying facts.
Examples
If your district court judge had a particularly bad morning, the United States Courts of Appeals are the legal equivalent of a second cup of coffee to fix the mistake.
Joining the Ninth Circuit is essentially the judicial version of being assigned the most chaotic office in the country, where even the simplest rulings seem to trigger a national debate.
Lawyers view the United States Courts of Appeals as their final chance to prove that the lower court ignored logic entirely, or at least failed to pretend they were listening.
The Federal Circuit remains the exclusive club where intellectual property disputes go to either die a slow death or be reborn as landmark precedents.