BYU Law was pleased to host Judge Scott Matheson, Jr. of the United States Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit yesterday as its Jurist in Residence. His noon address gave us some insight into his work on the 10th Circuit and I wanted to follow up on some of the things he mentioned as they relate to legal information.
First, Judge Matheson started off by relating an anecdote in which he was informed that the Federal Reporter, 3d was listing him as a judge in the 9th Circuit instead of the 10th. Here’s an example from Volume 660 of Fed 3d.
Judge Matheson also spoke a bit about the legal treatise Federal Practice and Procedure by Wright and Miller (which they use quite a bit at the 10th Circuit). This treatise has become well-known merely as “Wright and Miller.” So, if you’re ever asked to take a look at Wright and Miller by a supervising partner, go looking for a treatise, not two attorneys in the office. The Library has a print copy of Wright and Miller in the Reserve Library and an electronic version is available on Westlaw.
The Judge also got into some statistics regarding the 10th Circuit. More statistics, if you like that sort of thing, are available here.
Finally, Judge Matheson spoke a bit about his confirmation hearings. The Library subscribes to a database called Proquest Congressional that allows researchers to search Congressional Hearings by witness. Doing so allows you to find Judge Matheson’s confirmation hearings quite easily.