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Bobcar Media, LLC v. Aardvark Event Logistics, Inc.

Paid petition · United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, No. 2020-1847 · judgment March 5, 2021


Certiorari denied · October 4, 2021
Pre-decision estimate: 5% cert probability (95% interval 3%–8%)

Before the decision, modestly above the 4.1% base rate. The model weighted this up for a circuit split argued in the petition, a dissent in the court below (flagged in the petition), and a Federal Circuit decision below, and down for a business respondent.

Questions presented

  1. Whether the Court should resolve the circuit split under Federal Rule of Appellate Procedure 36 (wherein a minority of circuit courts issue judgments without any explanation of their decisions), and elucidate whether or not the use of one-word affirmances has constitutional and statutory boundaries.

  2. Whether the Federal Circuit’s extensive use of its Rule 36, to enter judgments which extinguish constitutional rights and private property rights without any explanation, violates constitutional and statutory protections, principles of right and justice, and this Court’s supervisory authority.

  3. Whether Federal Circuit Rule 36(a)(3) violates constitutional principles, such as the Seventh Amendment, Due Process, and Equal Protection, by authorizing panels to affirm summary judgment decisions denying jury trials, without any explanation whatsoever, and irrespective of the rules and rights in the circuit from which the case was appealed.

Counsel of record

For petitioner
Morris E. Cohen
Goldberg Cohen LLP

For respondent
Evan Lechtman
Blank Rome LLP

Case

Conference history
Distributed for 1 conference

Proceedings

  1. Oct 04 2021
    Petition DENIED.
  2. Sep 08 2021
    DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 9/27/2021.
  3. Sep 02 2021
    Waiver of right of respondent Aardvark Event Logistics, Inc. to respond filed.
  4. Aug 02 2021
    Petition for a writ of certiorari filed. (Response due September 3, 2021)