PREPARING THE RECORD FOR AN APPEAL

I haven't been writing much on this blog recently because I've been so involved in my appeal.  Doing so has kept me really busy and preoccupied.


Just so you know where I am now, I recently completed the part of the appeals process known as preparing the record for trial.  For any of you interested in this esoteric part of the legal process, this is what happens just after you have submitted the brief in your case.  


And, again, for those of you who need a little orientation, this is what goes on in an appeal.  As the appellant, or the person who is submitting an appeal, first you file the papers for an appeal indicating what the issues are.  Second, you file a brief explaining what is the legal basis of your complaint.  Third, you prepare a record for the appeal.  Fourth, you go to pretrial negotiations, and fifth you end up before the Court with one half hour within which to submit your oral argument and respond to questions from the Court.  


I may revise some of this information as I become more familiar with what goes on and get more detail.  These are my general observations from what I have experienced.  And remember, folks, this is not legal advice.  What I'm telling you is simply what I'm going through so you can share in my experience.  


Essentially, the record for appeal is a kind of abbreviation of your case.  Yes, the appeals judge has the complete record and can review it at will, but the record for appeal provides simply those essential documents that a judge would need to understand the issues at hand if he or she were under time constraints.  Also, just so you know, all the information regarding preparing the record for appeal is in Chapter 68 of the 2011 Practice book.  


In order to make sure the record is accurate with contents that reflect your case, the process goes as follows.  In the Appellate Court, after you, as the appellant, have filed your brief, the Appellate Clerk then obtains a copy of your case file from the Trial Clerk.  The Appellate Clerk then reviews your initial complaint, particularly your "Statement of Issues" and other documents in the case and simply takes from the case file pleadings and rulings which he or she believes reflects the issues in the case.  


Then the Appellate Clerk organizes the material chronologically, prepares a Table of Contents, and sends the material on to you, the Appellant.  You then have 20 days within which to make 15 copies of the prepared record for the Appellate court, plus additional copies for the opposing counsel and the trial judge in the case.  


If you are not satisfied that the record sent to you by the Appellate Clerk has included content that you believe accurately reflects the nature of the case, you have the option of contacting the Clerk and making suggestions for adding or removing documents from the file.  This is where you play a crucial role in shaping the kinds of content that the Judge ultimately sees before him and this is where you need to be particularly insistent upon your right to have the record reflect your position in the case.  Remember you have every right to argue and negotiate regarding these points, as does opposing counsel, so do so as much as you need to without being annoying.  


As with so much in Appellate Court, when it comes to preparing the record it isn't so much the legal details that creates a problem, because by the time you've arrived in Appellate Court, most of the time you are likely to be thoroughly on top of the subject matter.  The problem becomes the physical labor of making multiple copies of an entire record for appeal and making sure the Table of Contents, the sequence of the documents, and the page numbering are all accurate.  This takes lots of time and is labor intensive.  


As the final touches come around, don't forget that the Practice Book 2011 requires that the cover of the record for appeal be a yellow color, plus you are supposed to staple the pages together in such a way that you are so many inches from the top and bottom, etc., etc.  The best way to avoid klutzing around over the stapling issue is to pay around $70.00 for velobind which makes the final product look extremely professional.  Plus you have the advantage that the sales clerk has to do it, not you since doing it that way requires special machinery.


Yes, I know it costs, but who has time to get out a ruler and make sure the staples are in the right place.  Don't forget, your time is money also.  


Once you hand in the finished product, the clerk should date stamp the copies (request that it be done and watch to be sure it is done) so there is no doubt that you have obeyed the rules regarding deadlines.  Then you are finished!  And what a relief!  


As you may know, this is my first time doing these procedures, so I approach them with a great deal of anxiety.  The good news is, as I've noticed, that once you've done them once, the next time is a breeze.