Commercial Litigation and Arbitration

When a Circuit Court Feels It Necessary, It May Create a Circuit Split Even If Many Other Circuits Unanimously Take the Other View

Woods v. Carey, 722 F.3d 1177 (9th Cir. 2013):

Footnote 7. *** More important, although a circuit split is not desirable, we are not required to follow the initial circuit to decide an issue if our own careful analysis of the legal question leads us to conclude that Congress intended the contrary result. Zimmerman v. Oregon Dep't of Justice, 170 F.3d 1169, 1184 (9th Cir. 1999). When there is a "compelling reason to do so" we do not hesitate to create a circuit split, even when several circuits have addressed the question and all reached a result contrary to our own. Leavitt v. Arave, 383 F.3d 809, 825 (9th Cir. 2004) (disagreeing with six circuits to create a circuit split); see also In re Penrod, 611 F.3d 1158, 1160-61 (9th Cir. 2010) (disagreeing with eight circuits to create a circuit split).

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