Seriously? Four more weeks?
That'd be ok if the brief they are going to end up filing would turn out to be one hell of a bulletproof document. But I have a feeling it's not going to be that way. Kinda worried they'll file a very lackluster and unpolished brief, even after two extensions.
This is for MoRon's briefs. Someone on Lawtwitter actually suggested a briefing schedule like this would make more sense earlier, and I talked about what such a schedule would look like a couple pages back. Apparently, they're going to file a response to the plaintiff's opening brief as well as their own opening brief in their cross-appeal in one document. This saves a little bit of time and paper and is only mildly confusing.
So we're going to see
Appellant's Opening Brief (tomorrow)
Cross-Appellant/Appellee's Reply Brief and Opening Brief (of their cross-appeal) (March 19)
Appellant/Cross-Appellee's Reply Brief (to MoRon's cross-appeal)
And then any sur-replies
The judges aren't involved at this stage in the proceedings to any great degree. It's the clerk of the court who is coordinating all this activity and getting all these documents packaged, making sure everything is in conformity with form and procedure, and then, ultimately, putting together a stack of documents including the briefs, reporter's record and clerk's record below, and possibly any additional documents.
This clerk shouldn't be confused with law clerks, who are more or less judge's assistants chosen from recent law school graduates. This clerk, the Clerk of the Court, is probably the most important person in the court and every case goes through
When it's all together, this all gets distributed to the three judges in multiple copies, including one or more copies for each judge's law clerks (recent law school grads who assist in the process). The clerks read it, write up a memo summarizing the case and its history, as well as the arguments, and analyzing them, probably coming to some conclusion how the case should be decided. The three judges also read all the material as well as the clerk's memo, which is completely nonbinding, and then confer between themselves, both by correspondence and in person.
Then, there's oral argument (or not). The decision has probably been made before this and probably doesn't change.
At some point during this or after it, the judges choose one of their number to write the opinion, and if one of them disagrees, that judge writes a dissenting opinion. Then, the court issues its opinion and, some time on or after that date, a mandate returning it to the lower court with instructions on how to proceed further, or affirming the opinion in its entirety.