Federal Circuit to Hear Arguments at Northwestern Pritzker School of Law

On Wednesday, October 3, Northwestern Pritzker School of Law will host the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit as part of its October 2018 session in Chicago. 

The Federal Circuit regularly hears arguments outside of Washington, D.C. as part of its nationwide jurisdiction and statutory requirement to provide “reasonable opportunities to citizens to appear before the court.” Most recently, the Federal Circuit has held sessions in New York City, Los Angeles, Boston, Baltimore, Philadelphia, and Wilmington.

In addition to Northwestern Law, the Court will hear arguments at other Chicago-area law schools and the federal courthouse. Two of the oral arguments scheduled for the Law School are focused on patent infringement while one case is a federal employee dispute case. A full schedule of the Court’s session in Chicago is available on its website. Northwestern Law will be Panel D.

Northwestern students, faculty, alumni staff, and the general public are welcome to attend. Registration is required. Doors to Thorne Auditorium will open at 9am and the first argument will begin promptly at 10am. The complete argument schedule is the following:

9:00 AM – Doors open

10:00 AM – First Case Begins

10:30 AM – Second Case Begins

11:00 AM – Third Case Begins

11:30 AM – Court adjourns

11:30 AM – Q&A Session Begins

12:15 PM – Q&A Session Ends

Audience members may attend any arguments they’d like, but can only enter and exit in between cases when the doors are open and are asked to move quickly and quietly to not disrupt the judges.

Please note the following requirements:

• Attendees will be asked to either show their WildCard or check-in to receive a name badge.
• Bags will not be allowed inside Thorne Auditorium during court proceedings. A bag check will be available during the event. 
• Audience members must adhere to the courtroom decorum.