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existed since 1789,also remained.The new circuit court ofappeals was to consist ofone circuit judge,one circuit court ofappeals judge,one district judge,and a Supreme Courtjustice.Two judges constituted a quo-rum in these new courts.
Following passage of the Evarts Act,the federal judiciary had two trial tri-bunals:district courts and circuit courts.It also had two appellate tribunals:circuit courts ofappeals and the Supreme Court.Most appeals of trial decisions were to go to the circuit court ofappeals,although the act
also allowed direct review in some
instances by the Supreme Court.In short,creation ofthe circuit courts of appeals released the Supreme Court from many petty types of cases.Appeals could still be made,but the High Court would now have much greater control over its own workload.Much ofits former caseload was thus shifted to the two lower levels of the federal judiciary.
The next step in the evolution of the courts of appeals came in 1911.In that year Congress passed legislation abolishing the old circuit courts,which had no appellate jurisdiction and frequently duplicated the func-tions ofdistrict courts.
Today the intermediate appellate tribunals are officially known as courts of appeals,but they continue to be referred to colloquially as circuit courts.There are now 12 regional courts of appeals,staffed by 179 au-thorized courts of appeals judges.The courts ofappeals are responsible for reviewing cases appealed from federal district courts (and in some cases from administrative agencies) within the boundaries ofthe circuit.A specialized appellate court came into existence in
1982 when Congress established the Federal Circuit,a jurisdictional rather than a geographic circuit.