In November, the voters of Nevada approved Question 1 which amended Article 6 of the Nevada Constitution to create an intermediate Court of Appeals. California’s intermediate court is styled the Court of Appeal (no “s”).  Initially, the Nevada Court of Appeals will consist of three judges (not justices), but the legislature will have the authority to provide for a greater number.  The initial judges will serve for two year terms. Thereafter, judges are elected for six year terms.  While in office, a judge’s salary may be neither decreased or increased. Unlike the U.S. Constitution, the Nevada Supreme Court will fix by rule the jurisdiction of the Court of Appeals.

Before the amendment, Nevada was one of only ten states without an intermediate court of appeals. Accordingly, Nevada’s Supreme Court had a very heavy workload. In 2013, each Justice had a caseload of 333 cases. The American Bar Association recommended annual caseload is 100. The Nevada Supreme Court currently disposes of most of its cases through non-precedential, unpublished orders. As a result, the number of presidential decisions represents only about 4% of all dispositions by the Nevada Supreme Court.  The addition of a Court of Appeals is expected to increase the number of precedential decisions within the Nevada judiciary’s oeuvre.

Nevada is not building a large infrastructure to service the new court. Appeals will be filed with the Supreme Court and the Court of Appeals will use the Supreme Court’s existing facilities to hear cases. It is expected that the Supreme Court will assign approximately 700 cases per year to the Court of Appeals. The Supreme Court will have discretion on whether to accept appeals from the intermediate court.

Bureaucrats, Wheelbarrows and Paper

In September, the SEC adopted final rules revising Regulation AB and other rules governing the offering process, disclosure, and reporting for asset-backed securities. The adopting release is nearly 700 pages in length. This reminded me of the Han Dynasty eunuch, Cai Lun (蔡伦), who is credited with the invention of paper. Cai Lun was motivated by the fact that government records at the time were written on wood tablets and bamboo strips.  Records became so bulky that officials needed wheelbarrows (another Chinese invention) to move them about. One can only imagine how many bamboo strips would be required to encompass the SEC’s adopting release.