Document Type
Article
Abstract
Women who reach the bench in the U.S. Courts of Appeals have endured the gauntlet of law school, legal practice, and Senate confirmation to secure their prestigious place in the federal judiciary. How do these exceptional individuals approach their role in shaping judicial policy—and how do their colleagues receive their work? In this paper, we will draw on findings from an original dataset of published decisions from 2009-2016 that suggests that women judges invest more time and effort in crafting majority opinions than their male counterparts, but that this investment has a comparatively lower yield in influencing the development of legal policy outside their circuit. These findings have implications for organizational culture within a court, the development of new technologies, and socializing law clerks into the profession
Recommended Citation
Laura P. Moyer, John Szmer, Susan Haire, Robert Christensen, Making Their Mark: Women Judges on the U.S. Courts of Appeals, 16 ConLawNOW 100 (20205)