Most appellate questions are decided by a panel of jurists, from the “three-judge panel” ubiquitous in our state and federal intermediate courts to the larger bodies common at the highest courts.  But what about thorny questions faced by solitary judges at the trial court level?

A fascinating article in the New York Times today explores how federal District Court judges rely on informal input from each other to help explore tricky issues.  It’s worth a quick read as a window into a topic we all want to understand better: judicial decision-making.

–Matt Leerberg