CA4Fourth Circuit TrackerUpdated
Experimental

Panel Chemistry Lab

Every three-judge triad that has decided at least five cases together gets its own reversal rate, time-to-opinion, separate-opinion rate, and harmony score.

Leaderboards

Standout triads

Across 144 triads that have argued 5+ decided cases together.

Most harmonious

Highest geometric mean of pairwise agreement.

  1. 1.
    Judge Berner · Chief Judge Diaz · Judge Harris
    6 cases · 99 harmony
    99out of 100
  2. 2.
    Senior Judge Floyd · Judge King · Senior Judge Motz
    6 cases · 99 harmony
    99out of 100
  3. 3.
    Chief Judge Diaz · Judge Niemeyer · Judge Richardson
    7 cases · 99 harmony
    99out of 100
  4. 4.
    Judge Agee · Judge Quattlebaum · Judge Rushing
    9 cases · 99 harmony
    99out of 100
  5. 5.
    Judge Agee · Judge Richardson · Judge Rushing
    5 cases · 98 harmony
    98out of 100

Most divided

Lowest harmony — dissents are relatively common here.

  1. 1.
    Judge Gregory · Judge King · Judge Rushing
    10 cases · 77 harmony
    77out of 100
  2. 2.
    Judge Gregory · Judge Quattlebaum · Judge Wilkinson
    6 cases · 77 harmony
    77out of 100
  3. 3.
    Judge Gregory · Judge Richardson · Judge Rushing
    9 cases · 77 harmony
    77out of 100
  4. 4.
    Judge King · Judge Quattlebaum · Judge Wynn
    11 cases · 78 harmony
    78out of 100
  5. 5.
    Judge Gregory · Judge Richardson · Judge Wilkinson
    6 cases · 79 harmony
    79out of 100

Fastest

Shortest average time from argument to opinion.

  1. 1.
    Senior Judge Motz · Judge Thacker · Judge Wilkinson
    5 cases · 36d avg
    36
    days
  2. 2.
    Judge Agee · Judge Heytens · Judge King
    12 cases · 53d avg
    53
    days
  3. 3.
    Judge Harris · Judge Rushing · Judge Wynn
    5 cases · 54d avg
    54
    days
  4. 4.
    Judge Harris · Judge Wilkinson · Judge Wynn
    7 cases · 58d avg
    58
    days
  5. 5.
    Judge Agee · Judge Niemeyer · Judge Wilkinson
    11 cases · 61d avg
    61
    days

Highest reversal rate

Largest share of dispositions in the reversal/vacatur family.

  1. 1.
    Judge Berner · Judge Harris · Judge Heytens
    6 cases · 83% reversed
    83%
    reversed
  2. 2.
    Judge Agee · Judge Quattlebaum · Judge Richardson
    8 cases · 75% reversed
    75%
    reversed
  3. 3.
    Senior Judge Keenan · Judge Niemeyer · Judge Wynn
    6 cases · 67% reversed
    67%
    reversed
  4. 4.
    Judge Gregory · Judge Harris · Judge Wynn
    14 cases · 64% reversed
    64%
    reversed
  5. 5.
    Judge Berner · Judge Heytens · Judge Quattlebaum
    7 cases · 60% reversed
    60%
    reversed

How to read this

Harmony score is the geometric mean of the three pairwise agreement rates, where agreement on a case is defined as neither judge filing a dissent. A single uniformly-hostile pairing drags harmony down more sharply than it would in an arithmetic mean — which matches how three-judge dynamics actually work (a lone dissenter splits every vote).

Reversal rate counts dispositions in the reversal/vacatur family (Reversed, Reversed and Remanded, Vacated, Vacated and Remanded) over cases with a normalized disposition. Separate-opinion rate is the share of decided cases where any judge filed a dissent or concurrence.

Triads with fewer than 5 decided cases are excluded. No ideological or appointer inference is made. En-banc sittings are not included — the lab operates on three-judge panels only.