DISPOSITION OF APPEAL

(a) DISPOSITION. The Panel will dispose of all appeals by entry of an Opinion, Memorandum or Order. (b) DESIGNATION. (1) Opinion. A disposition of an appeal may be designated as an Opinion if it: (A ) Establishes, alters, modifies or clarifies a rule of law; -8- (B) Calls attention to a rule of law which appears to have been generally overlooked; (C) Criticizes existing law; or (D) Involves a legal or factual issue of unique interest or substantial public importance. (2) Memorandum or Order. A disposition of an appeal not designated as an Opinion will be designated as either a Memorandum or an Order. (3) Manner of Designation. A disposition shall be designated an Opinion if: (A) two of the three judges assigned to hear and dispose of the appeal, including the author of the disposition, agree that the disposition shall be designated an Opinion at the time such disposition is filed with the Clerk, or within 28 days thereof; or (B) an interested party, or any member of the Panel, requests, in writing, that a Memorandum or Order be redesignated as an Opinion, and that it be published. The request must be received no later than 28 days after the filing of the Memorandum or Order and must state concisely the reasons for publication. The judges assigned to hear and dispose of the appeal shall vote on whether to change the initial designation and, if two of the three judges assigned to hear and dispose of the appeal, including the author of the disposition, agree that the disposition shall be designated an Opinion. (c) CITATION AND EFFECT. (1) Opinions. Opinions shall be published. They shall bind the Panel as precedent unless they are modified or reversed in an Opinion issued by the Panel sitting en banc, or unless they no longer are precedent due to changes in the law, whether by act of Congress or by decision of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals or the Supreme Court. (2) Memoranda and Orders. Except as provided in subsection (d), Memoranda and Orders will not be published, and shall have no precedential value. (d) PUBLICATION. (1) Opinions. If the disposition is to be published, the BAP Clerk will release a copy to recognized channels for dissemination to the public. (2) Orders. An Order may be designated for publication if so designated by -9- the process provided in subsection (b)(3), with the following changes: (I) only two judges, one of whom is the author of the Order, need to agree as to publication; and (ii) the Order shall be treated as if it were a disposition of the appeal for all other purposes of applying that subsection. When so published, the Order may be used for any purpose for which an Opinion may be used. Upon designation as published, the BAP Clerk will release a copy to recognized channels for dissemination to the public.