The first year of the Supreme Court's new appellate acceptance policy has resulted in a near doubling of the number of cases accepted, but filings have not grown nearly as much as court officials anticipated.

(The appellate process will be among the topics discussed by Chief Justice John Broderick and administrative justices of the other courts at "New Developments in Statewide Court Practice - A Conversation Between Bench & Bar" CLE at the 2005 NHBA Midyear Meeting on Feb. 18. See page 16-17 for information and registration form.)

In 2004, the Supreme Court accepted 645 cases, up from 347 in 2003. However, filings increased only slightly, from 842 in 2003 to 898 in 2004. As a result, the court's pending caseload rose to 523 cases by the end of 2004, up from 338 in 2003, according to figures released by Supreme Court Clerk Eileen Fox.

Under the new process, only the case's appropriateness and timeliness for hearing are considered before acceptance; however, the court cannot begin to consider cases on the merits until the transcript is prepared and briefs and reply briefs are filed. Delays in preparing transcripts, as a result of changes in policy regarding court reporters (who no longer are paid to produce transcripts on their own time), have also lengthened the time it takes for cases to reach the court. Fox said that the most serious delays in transcript preparation in the Superior Court have been remedied. With additional court monitors, the superior court has greater flexibility to relieve court reporters to produce transcripts.).

Nevertheless, it was a productive year for the court, which disposed of 721 cases, including a significant number of cases that were initiated in 2003 or earlier. That compares favorably with 2003, an especially speedy year for the court, when it disposed of 893 cases, a number greater than the number of cases filed.

Overall in 2004, the number of opinions issued declined, due in part to the modest number of pending cases and because few of the cases filed under the new process were ready for consideration. Only 147 formal opinions and 89 3JX orders were issued in 2004, compared to 184 and 78 issued in 2003. The court's oral argument calendar was only slightly less busy, as the court heard oral arguments on 277 cases (95 under the 3JX process) in 2004, compared to 273 (80 3JX) in 2003.

Notably, the court's productivity in issuing opinions fell off markedly in the fall of 2004. From September through December of 2004, the court issued only 34 opinions, compared to 72 opinions during the August-December period in 2003.

Chart shows cumulative total of formal opinions issued, comparing 2003 (series 1) to 2004 (series 2). Overall, the court's output of formal opinions declined from 184 to 147 from 2003 to 2004.

Before the process began, court officials cautioned that there would be a time lag in the transition to a new process, and the justices have said that attorneys should not expect significantly more formal opinions from the court.

Chief Justice Broderick told Bar News that although the court is accepting many more cases than it had in the past, he does not expect the court will be holding significantly more oral arguments or writing more formal opinions. The kinds of cases that were rejected for consideration by the court under the discretionary acceptance policy now will be reviewed on the merits but will likely be disposed of by the issuance of summary orders or 3JX orders, he said.

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