On November 23, an unusual Third Circuit panel will sit for oral argument: Judge William Benton from the Eighth Circuit, Senior Judge David Sentelle from the D.C. Circuit,* and Senior Judge Ronald Gilman from the Sixth Circuit.

Now, this sort of thing isn’t unheard-of. Sometimes all the judges on a court have to recuse, and, when that happens, outside judges pinch hit. For example, just a couple months ago three Third Circuit judges decided this published Fourth Circuit case.

But the mystery in this case is why?

Presumably all the Third Circuit judges recused, but the basis for those recusals eludes me. The cases before the panel (one argued, one submitted on the briefs) are bankruptcy appeals. Both debtors are members of the same Pittsburgh business-litigation law firm; the legal issues are similar, and the attorneys on appeal are the same. But, after scanning the dockets and scouring the internet and asking a few smart folks who know these things, I can’t find any hint of why either case would require any (let alone every) Third Circuit judge to recuse.

This isn’t an important mystery, I admit, but mysteries needn’t be important to be maddening. So if anyone thinks they have the solution, please comment here or email me.

* Judge Sentelle is (like me in this respect, and quite possibly in only this respect) a ‘double Heel,’ having earned both his undergraduate and law degrees from the University of North Carolina. When I was in law school I was encouraged to apply to clerk for him because he was a feeder judge who often hired top UNC law students. He reportedly named his daughter Reagan and was a protege of Jesse Helms: I didn’t apply.