One type of question I'm sometimes asked by attorneys and others relates to the chances of getting an appellate petition heard by the Court. I can provide these numbers in a variety of case categories, and the grant percentage is included in our annual statistical report (See pg. 9 of the 2002 Annual Report [pdf].) Crunching statistics today for a report due to the National Center for State Courts, I noticed a misleading calculation in one of their published reports, showing that the West Virginia Supreme Court granted only 2% of civil petitions in 2001. Wrong. The true figure is 38.62% (better than a 1 in 3 chance of getting in -- which is a much better chance than most courts of last resort, I would hazard to guess.) Why the disparity? --a difference in how the grant percentage is derived. Some folks compare the number of petitions filed in a given year with the number granted review in a given year. However, because of the lag time in considering petitions, and annual filing fluctuations, in my opinion this approach yields a misleading figure.

The true percentage of cases granted has more to do with the total number of petitionsconsidered in a given year, rather than the number filed in a given year. So when I publish grant percentages, the numbers are based upon the total number of petitions in a given category that are considered by the Court in a given year, and, of that total, how many were granted or refused. This seems to be a much cleaner and more accurate reflection of the Court's work in a given year. This is important, because when I get those questions, I want to provide accurate information; to some extent attorneys rely on my answers to counsel clients as to whether to bring a petition for appeal, based on the historical data of how many such cases the Court has agreed to review in the past. I'm attending a meeting of the National Conference of Appellate Court Clerks next week, and I'm putting this issue on my list to discuss with my colleagues.