10th Cir.'s Proposed Rule Changes Include Electronic Appendices

Rule changes are never exciting. (Heck, I fell asleep four times reviewing these.) But rule changes are important. Why? Because if you file a printed addendum instead of an appendix, Chief Judge Mary Beck Briscoe will leave Lawrence, Kansas, get into her car, drive to your office, and kick you in your appendix. Or something like that.

The rule changes include Fed-wide changes to bankruptcy appeals, as well as tweaks to the local rules for appendices and other housecleaning.

Federal Rules of Appellate Procedure (Effective 12/01/14)

The court's announcement notes that Fed. R. App. P. 6 (bankruptcy appeals) has been revised this year. Changes include:

1. Numeric revisions to the new bankruptcy rules.
2. Language in the rule has been changed to incorporate and recognize the use of electronic records.
3. Rule 6 now references discretionary bankruptcy appeals filed in this court per 28 U.S.C. § 158(d)(2).

Local Rules: All About Appendices

The following rules have been updated, mostly to deal with electronic appendices:

• 10th Cir. R. 9.2(B) (addressing bail appeals and motions for bail filed in pending appeals)
• 10th Cir. R. 10.2(B) (regarding submission of appendix materials in retained counsel cases)
• 10th Cir. R. 11.1 (regarding appendix references)
• 10th Cir. R. 14.1 (addressing the local rules that are applicable to appeals from the Tax Court)
• 10th Cir. R. 15.3 (addressing service of agency petitions)
• 10th Cir. R. 25.3 and 25.4 (addressing exemptions from electronic filing and electronic service)
• 10th Cir. R. 28.1(B) (citing a record on appeal)
• 10th Cir. R. 30 (requirements for the electronic appendix and exemptions)
• CJA Plan (Addendum I to the rules)

Why all the changes? Beginning January 1, 2015, electronic appendices will be required in all retained counsel civil and criminal cases (this does not apply to appeals where the appellant or appellee is represented by CJA counsel).

File your appendix electronically. Serve opposing counsel via ECF. Submit a single hard copy to the clerk's office.

There is also a procedure for requesting an exemption from electronic filing (see R. 25.3 and R 25.4), but do you really want to kill trees?

Here's a redlined version of the rule changes. (H/T CBA CLE Legal Connection)

Send Your Comments via Email

The Tenth Circuit is taking comments via email (10th_Circuit_Clerk@ca10.uscourts.gov) on the proposed changes until October 20, 2014.

Related Resources:

• 10th Cir. Refuses to Go Further than NLRB in Teamsters Lock-Out Claim (FindLaw's U.S. Tenth Circuit Blog)
• 10th Cir. Hears Arguments in Kansas Voting Rights Case (FindLaw's U.S. Tenth Circuit Blog)
• Colo. Prison Nurse Can't Ignore Inmate With Severe Pain (FindLaw's U.S. Tenth Circuit Blog)