Printing and Filing in the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals
Located in Richmond, VA, the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals hears federal cases that arise from the federal district courts of Maryland, the Eastern District of North Carolina, the Middle District of North Carolina, the Western District of North Carolina, the District of South Carolina, the Eastern District of Virginia, the Western District of Virginia, the Northern District of West Virginia and the Southern District of West Virginia. The Fourth Circuit has strict standards for the printing and filing of appellate briefs, and these standards differ from those of the other federal circuits. The starting point for a filling is, as always, the federal rules of Appellate Procedure. From there, the rules are modified by the local rules of the Fourth Circuit.
In addition to the Federal Rules, these are some Fourth Circuit Local Rules:
- One copy of each brief must be submitted along with one service copies to each party.
- One copy of each appendix volume must be submitted with one service copy to each party.
- The Fourth Circuit requires the parties work together to produce a joint appendix. Except under the most extraordinary circumstances, supplementary appendices will not be accepted. If the appellant omits from the appendix the portions designated by the appellee, the appellant will be required to file a corrected appendix incorporating such material, and to bear the cost regardless of the outcome of the appeal.
- The appellant shall prepare and file an appendix to the briefs which shall contain: (1) the relevant docket entries in the proceeding below; (2) any relevant portions of the pleadings, charge, findings or opinion; (3) the judgment, order or decision in question; (4) notice of appeal; and (5) any other parts of the record to which the parties wish to direct the particular attention of the court. Except where they have independent relevance, memoranda of law should not be included in the appendix. Parts of the record may be relied on by the court or the parties even though not included in the appendix. The appendix must begin with a table of contents identifying the page at which each part begins. The relevant docket entries must follow the table of contents. Other parts of the record must follow chronologically. Omissions in the text of papers or of the transcript must be indicated by asterisks. Immaterial formal matters
- Double side production of appendices is preferred. Condensed transcripts are not allowed. A certificate of service should be bound in the appendix as the final document.
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