The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals appears bent on reining in potential conflicts between its precedents and those in other circuits before they catch the eye of the U.S. Supreme Court.

The nation’s largest federal appellate court issued 25 orders to rehear appeals by 15-judge en banc panels in 2006, the highest number in decades, with a whopping nine orders in one five-week period between Dec. 21, 2006, and Jan. 23, 2007, according to court records.