Changes to Circuit Rules 1, 25, 26, 28, 31, 32, 47.1 and 47.2 have been adopted and effective June 1, 2015. The announcements and final orders can be found on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia website: http://www.cadc.uscourts.gov/internet/home.nsf/content/home+page.

Rule 1 was changed by a separate order and those changes clarify restrictions on former Court employees practicing law before the Court.

The other rule changes were done as an organized revision of rules affected by e-filing. “These revisions were designed to replace the Administrative Order filed May 15, 2009, by incorporating the requirements for the Court’s Case Management/Electronic Case Files (CM/ECF) system into the Circuit Rules.” (May 6, 2015 Notice)

•Rule 25 changes expand the rule to cover the requirement for e-filing and consequences on filing and service of the electronic filing. Notable in the change is a new section (e) requiring the redaction of certain personal information.

•Rule 26 sets the official filing time as the time on the Notice of Docket Activity with some limited exceptions. It also allows parties to seek relief for untimely filing made by technical failures.

•Rule 28 cleans up some languages and updates certain rule citations.

•Rule 31 removes the requirement for paper copies of the page-proof briefs that are filed initially in deferred appendix cases (but keeping the paper requirement for final briefing).

•Rule 32 adds new sections (a)-(d) (renaming the old sections following those). The new sections clarify signature requirements, both by the e-filer and others required on the document; specify the requirement for searchable PDFs to be filed; allow specific types of hyperlinks; and specify when paper copies are required.

•Rules 47.1 and 47.2 reduce the number of paper copies for certain documents and update rule citations.

Please contact me with any questions regarding preparing and filing any appeal. Counsel Press provides a full spectrum of appellate services. Our Washington, DC office focuses on rule-compliant appellate filings in the Maryland, DC and Virginia state and district courts, as well as the D.C. Court of Appeals, 4th Circuit Court of Appeals and Federal Circuit Court of Appeals. We offer unparalleled in-depth expertise nationwide in all state & federal courts through our local offices.

Tagged: Appellate Practice, Appellate Services, Appellate Procedure, United State Court of Appeals District of Columbia Circuit, Litigation