NCJ Number
208426
Date Published
October 2004
Length
63 pages
Annotation
This report presents an analysis by the Federal Judicial Center on briefing requirements in the United States Courts of Appeals for potential amendments to the Federal Rules of Appellate Procedure (FRAP).
Abstract
At the request of the Judicial Conference Advisory Committee which held a meeting in 2003 on the Federal Rules of Appellate Procedure, the Federal Judicial Center conducted an analysis of briefing requirements in the U.S. Court of Appeals. This analysis identified every local rule or practice that imposes upon briefs and brief covers requirements that are not found in FRAP 28 and 32, the history of the local rules or practices that vary from the national rules, and the degree to which those variances are enforced in practice. This analysis was conducted in order to obtain additional information on reported problems with FRAP 28 prior to considering potential amendments to the rule. Information was received from 13 courts of appeals. Each court’s rules and other documents, as well as responses received from tailored questionnaires, were reviewed. In section II of this report, an overall examination of additional briefing requirements in the appellate courts is provided. In addition, the few variations regarding brief covers were described. Section III analyzes additional briefing requirements in each circuit, identifying additional briefing requirements in each court’s local rules or other sources, the history behind the adoption of these requirements, and the extent to which courts enforce these requirements. The final section, section IV discusses the questionnaire responses about any appellate court plans to adopt more briefing requirements, problems courts have experienced under the current rules, and whether FRAP 28 should be amended to prohibit further variations or to include additional or different briefing requirements. Appendixes 1 and 2