Rule 30 — Appendix to the Briefs

Fed. R. App. P. 30

• Source: Federal Rules of Appellate Procedure
• Rule: 30
• TITLE VII: GENERAL PROVISIONS
• Citation: Fed. R. App. P. 30

Text

(a) Appellant’s Responsibility.
(1) Contents of the Appendix. The appellant must prepare
and file an appendix to the briefs containing:
(A) the relevant docket entries in the proceeding below;
(B) the relevant portions of the pleadings, charge, find-
ings, or opinion;
(C) the judgment, order, or decision in question; and
(D) other parts of the record to which the parties wish to
direct the court’s attention.
(2) Excluded Material. Memoranda of law in the district
court should not be included in the appendix unless they have
independent relevance. Parts of the record may be relied on by
the court or the parties even though not included in the ap-
pendix.
(3) Time to File; Number of Copies. Unless filing is deferred
under Rule 30(c), the appellant must file 10 copies of the ap-
pendix with the brief and must serve one copy on counsel for
each party separately represented. An unrepresented party
proceeding in forma pauperis must file 4 legible copies with
the clerk, and one copy must be served on counsel for each
separately represented party. The court may by local rule or
by order in a particular case require the filing or service of a
different number.
(b) All Parties’ Responsibilities.
(1) Determining the Contents of the Appendix. The parties
are encouraged to agree on the contents of the appendix. In
the absence of an agreement, the appellant must, within 14
days after the record is filed, serve on the appellee a designa-
tion of the parts of the record the appellant intends to include
in the appendix and a statement of the issues the appellant in-
tends to present for review. The appellee may, within 14 days
after receiving the designation, serve on the appellant a des-
ignation of additional parts to which it wishes to direct the
court’s attention. The appellant must include the designated
parts in the appendix. The parties must not engage in unneces-
sary designation of parts of the record, because the entire
record is available to the court. This paragraph applies also to
a cross-appellant and a cross-appellee.

(2) Costs of Appendix. Unless the parties agree otherwise, the
appellant must pay the cost of the appendix. If the appellant
considers parts of the record designated by the appellee to be
unnecessary, the appellant may advise the appellee, who must
then advance the cost of including those parts. The cost of the
appendix is a taxable cost. But if any party causes unneces-
sary parts of the record to be included in the appendix, the
court may impose the cost of those parts on that party. Each
circuit must, by local rule, provide for sanctions against at-
torneys who unreasonably and vexatiously increase litigation
costs by including unnecessary material in the appendix.
(c) Deferred Appendix.
(1) Deferral Until After Briefs Are Filed. The court may pro-
vide by rule for classes of cases or by order in a particular case
that preparation of the appendix may be deferred until after
the briefs have been filed and that the appendix may be filed
21 days after the appellee’s brief is served. Even though the fil-
ing of the appendix may be deferred, Rule 30(b) applies; except
that a party must designate the parts of the record it wants
included in the appendix when it serves its brief, and need not
include a statement of the issues presented.
(2) References to the Record.
(A) If the deferred appendix is used, the parties may cite
in their briefs the pertinent pages of the record. When the
appendix is prepared, the record pages cited in the briefs
must be indicated by inserting record page numbers, in
brackets, at places in the appendix where those pages of
the record appear.
(B) A party who wants to refer directly to pages of the
appendix may serve and file copies of the brief within the
time required by Rule 31(a), containing appropriate ref-
erences to pertinent pages of the record. In that event,
within 14 days after the appendix is filed, the party must
serve and file copies of the brief, containing references to
the pages of the appendix in place of or in addition to the
references to the pertinent pages of the record. Except for
the correction of typographical errors, no other changes
may be made to the brief.
(d) Format of the Appendix. The appendix must begin with a
table of contents identifying the page at which each part begins.
The relevant docket entries must follow the table of contents.
Other parts of the record must follow chronologically. When pages
from the transcript of proceedings are placed in the appendix, the
transcript page numbers must be shown in brackets immediately
before the included pages. Omissions in the text of papers or of the
transcript must be indicated by asterisks. Immaterial formal mat-
ters (captions, subscriptions, acknowledgments, etc.) should be
omitted.
(e) Reproduction of Exhibits. Exhibits designated for inclusion
in the appendix may be reproduced in a separate volume, or vol-
umes, suitably indexed. Four copies must be filed with the appen-
dix, and one copy must be served on counsel for each separately

represented party. If a transcript of a proceeding before an admin-
istrative agency, board, commission, or officer was used in a dis-
trict-court action and has been designated for inclusion in the ap-
pendix, the transcript must be placed in the appendix as an ex-
hibit.
(f) Appeal on the Original Record Without an Appendix. The
court may, either by rule for all cases or classes of cases or by
order in a particular case, dispense with the appendix and permit
an appeal to proceed on the original record with any copies of the
record, or relevant parts, that the court may order the parties to
file.

Advisory Committee Notes

(As amended Mar. 30, 1970, eff. July 1, 1970; Mar. 10, 1986, eff. July 1, 1986; Apr. 30, 1991, eff. Dec. 1, 1991; Apr. 29, 1994, eff. Dec. 1, 1994; Apr. 24, 1998, eff. Dec. 1, 1998; Mar. 26, 2009, eff. Dec. 1, 2009.)