How to Create a Compliant Appellate Brief Appendix

Preparing an appendix is complicated

Navigating the appellate process can be daunting, especially for attorneys who don’t frequently handle appeals. 

One crucial component of a successful appeal is the appendix to the appellate brief. The appendix provides the appellate court with essential records from the lower court proceedings, allowing the judges to review the case accurately and efficiently. 

Preparing appendices is an inherently complex process due to the varying rules and guidelines across circuits, as well as the time-consuming nature of Bates-stamping, merging PDFs, splitting exhibits into volumes, and creating indexes or tables of contents.

If you don’t follow the specific rules for the court in which you’re filing, if a document is omitted, or you don’t follow the required order precisely, you may need to rebuild the entire appendix from scratch—which only makes preparing these types of documents more burdensome.

FRAP guidelines regarding appendices

You’ll find General Provisions regarding an appendix in Rule 30 of The Federal Rules of Appellate Procedure (commonly referred to as The FRAP), and the proper format for an appendix is detailed in Rule 32. 

However, each U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals also has its own specific rules regarding what must be included in an appendix and how it should be formatted. You need to understand and follow all applicable requirements to the letter in order to ensure that your appeal is considered on its merits—instead of being rejected for procedural non-compliance.

Below, we provide a streamlined checklist for creating a compliant appellate brief appendix. We cover the general elements that should be included and highlight any variations and specific requirements for different circuit courts. Note that this guide is accurate as of Sept. 2024.

Whether you’re an experienced appellate attorney, or someone who only handles appeals occasionally, this guide will help you navigate the complexities of preparing a compliant appendix for your next appellant brief.

FRAP 30 appendix checklist: required elements

While there are circuit-specific variations that we’ll get into in a minute, here is a checklist of the basic elements that must be included when preparing an appellate brief appendix:

1. Cover page: Include case number, court, case title, and “Appendix” designation.
2. Table of contents or indexes: List each document in the appendix with corresponding page numbers.
3. Relevant docket entries: Include any relevant entries from the lower court’s docket.
4. Judgment or order being appealed: The final judgment, order, or decision from which the appeal is taken.
5. Opinion or findings of fact and conclusions of law: Include any lower court opinions, findings of fact, and conclusions of law.
6. Relevant portions of the transcript: Only include necessary portions of the transcript. Specify relevant pages and lines in the table of contents.
7. Pleadings: Include the complaint, answer, and other significant pleadings.
8. Key exhibits: Attach relevant exhibits that were presented in the lower court.
9. Important motions and orders: Include any critical motions and orders relevant to the appeal.
10. Notice of appeal: The filed notice of appeal from the lower court.
11. Statutory and regulatory provisions: Relevant statutes, regulations, and rules.

A FRAP 30 appendix must be ordered chronologically and citations to the record in your brief must be to the Bates-stamped appendix page numbers.

Circuit-specific requirements for preparing an appendix

As mentioned earlier, to avoid rejection, it’s vital that your appendix is properly compiled, formatted, paginated, and bound in accordance with your court’s specific requirements. 

But here’s where things get a bit more complicated…

Some circuits require additional elements beyond what’s required by the FRAP. Some want the elements attached in a slightly different order or with different pagination than the FRAP guidelines. Some circuits actually require you to name the appendix something other than “Appendix”.

Here are some of the most notable circuit court rules that diverge from the FRAP. While it’s not a comprehensive list, it also highlights how the rules vary among the circuits.

Fourth Circuit: Appellant and appellee must agree on the contents and file a “Joint Appendix” (JA), with information from counsel on both sides of the case. Exhibits should be included in chronological order, but the docket sheet should be the first document in the first volume. Citations to the JA in your brief must follow the same format used to paginate the appendix: JA123, JA 123, or J.A. 123 (No volumes, no dashes, etc.). See more in Rule 30. Appendix to the Briefs and Fourth Circuit Appendix Pagination & Brief Citation Guide. 

Fifth Circuit: The court prepares a comprehensive electronic “Record on Appeal” (ROA), but the appellant must prepare and file a smaller “Record Excerpts” with the intention primarily to assist the judges in making the screening decision on the need for oral argument and in preparing for oral argument; only include parts of the record that will assist in this. The table of contents of your Record Excerpts must include the original ROA pages for each document being included. Citations to the record in your brief should be to the ROA page numbers, i.e., “ROA.123” or “ROA.123-145”. See Fifth Cir. R. 30.

Sixth Circuit: You likely don’t need an appendix when filing in the Sixth Circuit. An appendix is not required if the district court’s record is electronic. Most district courts within the circuit have record items that are filed electronically, so an appendix is generally not required. See Sixth Cir. R. 30(a) for the exceptions that would necessitate an appendix. The Sixth Circuit also provides this Appendix Checklist.

Ninth Circuit: The appellant must file an “Excerpts of Record” (ER); the appellee may file a “Supplemental Excerpts of Record” (SER) if they believe something was excluded from the appellant’s ER. The ER/SER can be a single volume if fewer than 300 pages, or multivolume with a separate index volume if it’s more than 300 pages. Documents should be included in reverse chronological order. For the ER, the first volume must only include documents being appealed, with the docket sheet at the end of the last volume. See 9th Cir. LR 30-1. Citations to the record in your brief should be formatted as [volume number]-ER-[page number(s)] (“1-ER-12” for example).

Tenth Circuit: The appellant must file an “Appendix” (App.), the appellee may file a “Supplemental Appendix” (Supp. App.) if they believe something was excluded from the appellant’s appendix. You must label separate volumes with Roman numerals on the appendix cover page; references to the appendix within your brief should be by volume and page number, e.g., App. Vol. 2 at 27, or Supp. App. Vol. 2 at 14. The Tenth Circuit provides this Quick Reference Guide to Appendix Requirements.

Eleventh Circuit: The index or table of contents must include a column with a tab number corresponding to the district court document number for each document being included. The district court docket sheet must be the first document in the first volume, all other documents should be included chronologically. Citations to the record must be to the individually paginated document numbers (not the Bates stamped page numbers of the appendix), i.e., “Doc. 32, at p. 1-5.” See the Eleventh Circuit’s Instructions for Preparing an Appendix.

Save time preparing your appellate brief appendix

If you’d rather spend your time sharpening your argument and preparing for court instead of pouring over the relevant circuit court rules then performing the many steps needed to create a compliant appendix, look to legaltech solutions, such as TypeLaw, to help.

TypeLaw’s proprietary AI knows all the relevant rules for preparing a compliant appendix for any U.S. Circuit Court and can quickly build one for you using your exhibits. 

We can automatically compile your exhibits into the required volumes, build your indexes or tables of contents, Bates-stamp, add electronic bookmarks, and everything else required for a compliant appendix (or whatever your court calls it)—saving you countless hours of frustration and hassle. We can also accurately format and hyperlink your brief.

Better appendices. Better briefs. Better outcomes.

By following this appellate brief appendix checklist, as well as any specific circuit court requirements, you can create a compliant appendix for your next appellate brief. If you’d rather not take the time to DIY, TypeLaw is here to help.

Requirements change, so we recommend that you always check the latest rules and guidelines provided by the court in which you’re filing. They are typically available on the court’s website. 

Because the formatting rules vary so widely by circuit, you may also find this guide to the intricate briefing rules of the federal circuit courts helpful for navigating the myriad requirements.