In the first part of this article, I traced the history of appellate panel size in light of the prospect, announced in March 2019, that the Appellate Division, First Department, would sit in panels of four justices, rather than the customary five. From that history, some conclusions can be drawn.

The Court of Appeals was set at seven, as a reduction from the original eight, and while there have been efforts to expand the Court’s membership, there never was any interest in having more than seven sit at one time. The Appellate Division five was set as an increase above the three that the General Term had, precisely to provide for more collaboration. In 1973, the Temporary Commission on the State Court System suggested that the presiding justices have the authority to use three-judge panels in designated cases. On the other hand, a few years later, in 1981, a study advised against reduction in Appellate Division panels to three out of concerns with regard to structure, stability and public perception.