Scheduling of Oral Arguments

Our office recently received an order adjusting the briefing schedule in a pending appeal. The order contained the following language, which was captioned "Important Scheduling Notice!," "Criminal appeals are scheduled shortly after the filing of the main brief. . ." As is well known, once an oral argument is scheduled, it is difficult to obtain a different date. Counsel who foresee a scheduling problem will typically write the clerk and so advise; the Court has been accommodating to requests that oral argument not be assigned for particular dates. Generally, counsel would wait until all the briefs were submitted before making such a request. With this new practice, counsel should be looking at their calendars much earlier.