Deven Desai at Concurring Opinions discusses an interesting article on law.com reporting that my old boss, Judge Frank Easterbrook, will soon become Chief Judge of the Seventh Circuit. Interestingly, the article suggests, and the judge in an interview confirms, that not very much about the Seventh Circuit is likely to change. The court is already performing at an exceptionally high level, and a sensible goal for any incoming chief judge would be in the main to stay the course. That said, the article does suggest that there may be a few incremental changes in the years ahead, including the possibility of having some district judges serve on appellate panels.
I have closely watched the work of the Seventh Circuit for a decade and am confident in predicting that whatever administrative innovations end up being adopted in the next seven years, the main thing for those outside the circuit to watch for will remain the outstanding and influential opinions that the fine judges on the court continue to produce in case after case.
