When to Hold, When to Fold, and When to Reshuffle: The Art of Decisionmaking on a Multi-Member Court

The reasons why a judge writes separately vary, depending on whether the contemplated opinion will be a concurrence or a dissent. Judge Patricia Wald, who sat for many years on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, has suggested that a judge who intends to dissent "is driven publicly to distance herself from her colleagues out of profound disagreement, frustration, even outrage.