The Sixth Circuit Law Blog tipped me off to a new procedure being employed in the federal 6th Circuit. The blog indicates that: "The Sixth Circuit is trying to cut down its backlog of cases and decide all cases in a more expeditious manner. To do that, they are scheduling some cases for telephone argument. Other cases are being issued 'on brief day set' notices that do not acknowledge the request for oral argument." I checked, and 6th Circuit Rule 34(h)(4) on Oral Argument provides that: "This court may conduct oral argument via teleconference in appropriate cases." The Court has also created a Telephone Argument Acknowledgement Form, and I even found the Court's telephone argument calendar. According to the 6th Circuit Law Blog, this process is speeding up the delivery of opinions.