(a) Filing the Notice of Appeal.
(1) An appeal permitted by law as of right from a district
court to a court of appeals may be taken only by filing a no-
tice of appeal with the district clerk within the time allowed
by Rule 4. At the time of filing, the appellant must furnish the
clerk with enough copies of the notice to enable the clerk to
comply with Rule 3(d).
(2) An appellant’s failure to take any step other than the
timely filing of a notice of appeal does not affect the validity
of the appeal, but is ground only for the court of appeals to act
as it considers appropriate, including dismissing the appeal.
(3) An appeal from a judgment by a magistrate judge in a
civil case is taken in the same way as an appeal from any
other district court judgment.
(4) An appeal by permission under 28 U.S.C. §
1292(b) or an ap-
peal in a bankruptcy case may be taken only in the manner
prescribed by Rules 5 and 6, respectively.
(b) Joint or Consolidated Appeals.
(1) When two or more parties are entitled to appeal from a
district-court judgment or order, and their interests make
joinder practicable, they may file a joint notice of appeal.
They may then proceed on appeal as a single appellant.
(2) When the parties have filed separate timely notices of ap-
peal, the appeals may be joined or consolidated by the court
of appeals.
(c) Contents of the Notice of Appeal.
(1) The notice of appeal must:
(A) specify the party or parties taking the appeal by
naming each one in the caption or body of the notice, but
an attorney representing more than one party may de-
scribe those parties with such terms as ‘‘all plaintiffs,’’
‘‘the defendants,’’ ‘‘the plaintiffs A, B, et al.,’’ or ‘‘all de-
fendants except X’’;
(B) designate the judgment—or the appealable order—
from which the appeal is taken; and
(C) name the court to which the appeal is taken.
(2) A pro se notice of appeal is considered filed on behalf of
the signer and the signer’s spouse and minor children (if they
are parties), unless the notice clearly indicates otherwise.
(3) In a class action, whether or not the class has been cer-
tified, the notice of appeal is sufficient if it names one person
qualified to bring the appeal as representative of the class.
(4) The notice of appeal encompasses all orders that, for pur-
poses of appeal, merge into the designated judgment or appeal-
able order. It is not necessary to designate those orders in the
notice of appeal.
(5) In a civil case, a notice of appeal encompasses the final
judgment, whether or not that judgment is set out in a sepa-
rate document under
Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 58, if the
notice designates:
(A) an order that adjudicates all remaining claims and
the rights and liabilities of all remaining parties; or
(B) an order described in Rule 4(a)(4)(A).
(6) An appellant may designate only part of a judgment or
appealable order by expressly stating that the notice of appeal
is so limited. Without such an express statement, specific des-
ignations do not limit the scope of the notice of appeal.
(7) An appeal must not be dismissed for informality of form
or title of the notice of appeal, for failure to name a party
whose intent to appeal is otherwise clear from the notice, or
for failure to properly designate the judgment if the notice of
appeal was filed after entry of the judgment and designates an
order that merged into that judgment.
(8) Forms 1A and 1B in the Appendix of Forms are suggested
forms of notices of appeal.
(d) Serving the Notice of Appeal.
(1) The district clerk must serve notice of the filing of a no-
tice of appeal by sending a copy to each party’s counsel of
record—excluding the appellant’s—or, if a party is proceeding
pro se, to the party’s last known address. When a defendant in
a criminal case appeals, the clerk must also serve a copy of
the notice of appeal on the defendant. The clerk must prompt-
ly send a copy of the notice of appeal and of the docket en-
tries—and any later docket entries—to the clerk of the court
of appeals named in the notice. The district clerk must note,
on each copy, the date when the notice of appeal was filed.
(2) If an inmate confined in an institution files a notice of
appeal in the manner provided by Rule 4(c), the district clerk
must also note the date when the clerk docketed the notice.
(3) The district clerk’s failure to serve notice does not affect
the validity of the appeal. The clerk must note on the docket
the names of the parties to whom the clerk sends copies, with
the date of sending. Service is sufficient despite the death of
a party or the party’s counsel.
(e) Payment of Fees. Upon filing a notice of appeal, the appellant
must pay the district clerk all required fees. The district clerk re-
ceives the appellate docket fee on behalf of the court of appeals.