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Seriatim

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Seriatim, Latin for "one after another," "in a series" or "successively," is a legal term used to indicate the order of court proceedings.[1][2][3] For example, in a multiple issue court case, the matters in question might be addressed seriatim (or "ad seriatim"), meaning "one by one" in the order that they were initially presented to the court.[4]

Seriatim Opinion

A seriatim opinion refers to the practice in appellate courts for each judge on the bench to write, and deliver, individual opinions detailing his or her views on a case, as opposed to having a single opinion delivered by one justice on behalf of the entire court.[5] Prior to the appointment of John Marshall as chief justice of the United States in 1801, American appellate courts, including the United States Supreme Court, practiced seriatim opinion writing. However, under Marshall’s leadership, the practice of seriatim opinion was discontinued in favor of issuing a unitary "opinion of the court."[6]

Although seriatim opinions are infrequently used in modern U.S. law, judges tend to issue them for two types of cases: (1) cases that are of "unusual magnitude and significance," and (2) cases where there is a "broad range of opinion among the justices and a clearer consensus is not possible."[7]

See also

Footnotes