While we wait for the court to begin its Term on Monday, October 5th, I thought it might be helpful to discuss some of the traditions of the Court.

A Term of the Court begins on the first Monday in October and continues until late June or early July. The Term is divided between "sittings" and "recesses" and are alternated every two weeks. When the court is sitting, public sessions are held Monday-Wednesday and begin promptly at 10:00a and end at 3:00p with a one hour lunch recess.

The Justices are announced into the Court by the Marshal. At the sound of the gavel, everyone rises as they enter and are seated by seniority, with Chief Justice John Roberts Jr. seated in the center. On a typical day, up to 24 cases can be heard. Because the Court is mainly reviewing decisions of some other court, there is no jury and no witnesses. Each side is allowed 30 minutes to present their argument.

During times of recess, the Court studies the argued cases and write their opinions. In addition, the Justices evalate more than 130 petitions per week seeking the review of state and Federal court judgments in order to determine cases to be heard in the future.

Because this blog is the result of an assignment for Business Organizations, I will focus my posts on cases involving business. As an example, one case that is on the docket is American Needle v. National Football League, Docket No-08-661. American Needle is a company which manufactures and distributes headwear bearing NFL team logos. In 2000-2001, the NFL granted an exclusive license to Reebok. The question being asked is whether or not this exclusive license is a violation of the Sherman Act, whose purpose is to protect the consumer through the preservation of competition.

Please stay tuned for more!