The total number of intermediate appellate seats is 80, with membership ranging from three to 13 justices per court, as set by statute. All cases are heard by a three-justice panel unless a hearing "en banc" is ordered (except where a particular court has only three justices assigned to it, in which instance all cases are automatically heard "en banc"; an example is the 12th Court of Appeals). The "en banc" process is used to maintain consistency in the court's jurisprudence, to overrule existing precedent that is binding on individual panels, and to set new precedent on an unsettled question of substantive law or procedure.