Short answer. All Court of Appeals cases are allotted among its different divisions for hearing and decision, and the court sitting en banc adopts its own internal rules governing that allotment, how the divisions are constituted, the rotation of justices, and filling vacancies, which remain in force until changed.
What the law says
All the cases of the Court of Appeals shall be allotted among the different divisions thereof for hearing and decision. The Court of Appeals, sitting en banc, shall make proper orders or rules to govern the allotment of cases among the different divisions, the constitution of such divisions, the regular rotation of Justices among them, the filling of vacancies occurring therein, and other matters relating to the business of the court; and such rules shall continue in force until repealed or altered by it or by the Supreme Court.
Rule 54, Section 1 — Distribution of cases among divisions. Read the full provision →
Cases are handled by divisions, not the whole court
Rule 54, Section 1 establishes that the Court of Appeals does not decide cases as a single body of all its justices. Instead, every case is allotted to one of its divisions, which handles the hearing and decision. This division structure is why a litigant's case is typically captioned as pending before a specific numbered division of the Court of Appeals rather than the court as a whole. That structural choice also means decisions are rendered by a subset of the court's members rather than requiring every justice to review every case, which allows the Court of Appeals to process a much larger docket than an en banc-only model would permit.
Who sets the rules for allotment
The section places the power to govern how cases are allotted, how divisions are formed, and how justices rotate among them in the hands of the Court of Appeals itself, acting en banc — meaning all its members sitting together for that administrative purpose, distinct from deciding a particular appeal. This self-governance covers not just case allotment but also filling vacancies in a division and other matters relating to the court's business. Because the statute leaves the specific mechanics to the Court of Appeals itself rather than spelling them out in the Rules of Court, the allotment scheme can be adjusted administratively as caseloads or staffing change, without waiting for a formal rule amendment from the Supreme Court.
The rules stay in force until changed
Whatever internal orders or rules the Court of Appeals en banc adopts under this authority remain effective indefinitely, until either the Court of Appeals itself repeals or alters them, or the Supreme Court does so. This section does not itself specify the current allotment scheme — it only establishes where that authority resides. That continuing force gives litigants and counsel a stable, knowable framework to rely on rather than one that could shift from case to case, and the Supreme Court's retained power to alter or repeal these rules confirms that the Court of Appeals' self-governance operates within, not above, the Supreme Court's overall supervisory authority over the judiciary.