The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit is hearing arguments at law schools and courthouses around the San Francisco Bay Area this week. Occasionally hitting the road helps the Washington, D.C.-based court  meet its statutory requirement to provide "reasonable opportunities to citizens to appear before the court" and reinforces its national jurisdiction. 

Circuit Judges Timothy Dyk, Raymond Chen and Kara Stoll heard oral arguments in three patent cases Tuesday on the campus of UC Berkeley School of Law as part of the court's West Coast swing. I have a policy that whenever a federal appellate court is in action within walking distance of my house, I go. That's regardless of how dense the subject matter might be.