“Auld Lang Syne”: CBS News chief legal correspondent Jan Crawford has this post today at her new “Crossroads” blog.

“Obama Treads Fine Line With His Liberal Supporters”: In yesterday’s edition of The Daily Journal of California, Lawrence Hurley had an article that begins, “In its first year in office, the Obama administration has walked a fine line in its cases before the Supreme Court, disappointing some supporters with its hard line on terrorism detainees while breaking with the Bush administration on business issues.”

“Solving the federal judicial selection problem”: Law professor Carl Tobias has this op-ed at the web site of McClatchy Newspapers.

“Judging the Judges: Veil of secrecy stirring calls for change.” In yesterday’s edition of The Houston Chronicle, Lise Olsen had an article that begins, “Just 12 chief federal judges wield almost exclusive power over secret misconduct investigations of more than 2,000 fellow jurists — though some have themselves been accused of botching reviews or committing ethical blunders, according to a Houston Chronicle review.”

“Calif. Judge Said to Be on Short List for Federal Circuit”: law.com has an article that begins, “Will Silicon Valley finally get a judge on the very high court of patent law? San Jose, Calif.-based U.S. District Judge Jeremy Fogel is on the White House short list for the open spot on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, according to a person briefed on the matter.”

“A Busy Year for Judiciary, Roberts Says”: Adam Liptak has this article today in The New York Times.

Today in The Washington Post, Robert Barnes reports that “Supreme Court Chief Justice Roberts opts not to ask Congress to raise judicial salaries.”

Mark Sherman of The Associated Press has an article headlined “Report: Immigration cases at record levels in 2009.”

At “SCOTUSblog,” Lyle Denniston has a post titled “No wish list for the Chief; A gesture to hard times.”

And at “The BLT: The Blog of Legal Times,” Carrie Levine has a post titled “Chief Justice: Courts Operating Soundly.”

You can access Chief Justice John G. Roberts, Jr.’s “2009 Year-End Report on the Federal Judiciary” by clicking here.

Best wishes for a healthy, happy, and rewarding 2010! Thanks so very much to all of this blog’s readers for their frequent visits to the site in 2009, and a special thanks to those readers who took the time to send along thoughts, links, or tips via email.

2009 was a wonderful year for me. At work, even before yesterday’s important victory, 2009 was a great year — the best since I began my solo appellate practice. I wrote a total of twenty-one appellate briefs. I presented eight appellate oral arguments. I wrote two responses in opposition to complex post-trial motions filed to challenge the verdicts that resolved two lengthy jury trials and assisted in briefing post-trial motions filed in a third case that’s at least equally as complicated. One of these three cases has already resulted in appellate work (namely, the Brief for Appellees that I filed in the Pa. Superior Court two days ago) and the other two are likely to do so in 2010. And this year is already off to a fast start, with several appellate briefs due this month and a federal court appellate oral argument likely to occur later this month.

Here at “How Appealing” in 2009 — in addition to the usual volume of frequently updated new posts — I made blog-related visits to New Orleans; Covington, Kentucky; Huntington, West Virginia; and Washington, DC. The trip to New Orleans was particularly wonderful, given that my wife was finally again able to accompany me on a blog-related trip (her first since we went to Brainerd, Minnesota in July, 2006), and this blog’s readers provided excellent suggestions for restaurants and other fun things to do.

On the home front, 2009 also had many fond memories. The baseball team on which my son played had a better end to its year than the Philadelphia Phillies did, although the opposing team admittedly did not have the payroll of the New York Yankees. My son and I attended a Phillies World Series home game for the second year in a row, and the Phillies won both of those games. We also got to see every Phillies minor league team play at home except for the ones based in Florida. We attended a minor league baseball all star game. We got to see games played in the new Yankees and Mets stadiums. And we won’t soon forget our early September minor and major league baseball road trip that took us to Williamsport, Pa.; Altoona, Pa. (where the Altoona Curve baseball team features mascot Al Tuna, seen here on video); Niles, Ohio, Akron; Cleveland; and Pittsburgh, before a non-baseball stop at the Gettysburg battlefields. For 2010, we’ve purchased a full season ticket plan for the Phillies, in place of the Sunday plan that we’ve enjoyed in years past. Last but not least, in 2009 I officially turned old.

In closing, thanks to all of this blog’s readers and to my clients, colleagues, friends, and family who made 2009 such a wonderful year. And I hope that 2010 is an even better year for all.