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Some folks are asking whether Justice Breyer could continue hearing cases - say, on the First Circuit - if he stepped down from the Supreme Court. Let me channel my inner Liz Warren and say, I've got a judicial administration paper on that. (Mini 
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As I wrote about last year in the @CalifLRev, visiting judges can be found throughout the federal courts today, but their contribution is felt most significantly in the courts of appeals...
From Sept. 2016 to Sept. 2017, visiting judges of all kinds were involved in deciding approximately 4,300 federal appeals. Nearly 2,000 of those appeals were decided on the merits after oral argument—representing almost 30 % of such cases in the COA! 
Visitors of all kinds, you ask? Why yes! District judges from in and outside the circuit, judges from other circuits, and judges from Article III courts of “special” jurisdiction—the Federal Circuit and the U.S. Court of International Trade—all lend their services. (Go team!)
Representing the "top tier," retired Justice Sandra Day O’Connor routinely visited the courts of appeals after she left the Supreme Court. By my count, she sat by designation on all of the regional circuit courts, save the DC Circuit (which famously does not host visitors).
Justice Breyer could certainly do the same, or take the lead from Justice Souter, who has frequently visited the First Circuit since his departure from the Court. Indeed, in the court calendars I examined (2008-2013) Justice Souter sat on 37 different First Circuit panels!
The relevant statutory authority is 28 U.S. Code § 294 - Assignment of retired Justices or judges to active duty, and the article on “Visiting Judges” is here: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3328571
#IHeartJudicialAdministration (Fin!)
#IHeartJudicialAdministration (Fin!)
