Patently-O Bits and Bytes: Federal Circuit Judicial Nominees

• President Obama recently announced KATHLEEN O'MALLEY as his nominee for the open position on the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (CAFC).
• Next Opening: Chief Judge PAUL R. MICHEL has announced that he is retiring May 31, 2010.
• Judges PAULINE NEWMAN, ALAN D. LOURIE, ARTHUR J. GAJARSA, TIMOTHY B. DYK, and HALDANE ROBERT MAYER are all currently eligible to take "senior status." Judge WILLIAM C. BRYSON will be eligible on his 65^th birthday (August 19, 2010). Judges RICHARD LINN and RANDALL R. RADER will become eligible in 2012 and 2014 respectively. Of course, a judge can retire at any point. The Senior Status benefit is that the judge continues to receive a full salary but a reduced workload. However, Judges on senior status do not participate in en banc rehearings (unless the senior-judge sat on the original panel) and are never considered the presiding judge of a panel.
• [Update] Senior Judges do receive a copy of decisions before they issue, but does not have authority to request an en banc poll.