Briefs & Appendices

Filing Briefs and Appendices

Briefs and appendices are filed electronically through CM/ECF using the event Brief/Appendix or Joinder as described in the court’s Electronic Filing Procedures (pdf).  Once a brief or appendix is filed, the Clerk’s Office will review the submission for compliance with the Federal Rules of Appellate Procedure and the Federal Circuit Rules.  Until such review is completed, the entry will reflect the document is “Pending Compliance Review.”

If the document is compliant, the Clerk’s Office will edit and re-serve the docket entry when review is completed, which notifies the parties that compliance review is complete.

If the document is non-compliant, the Clerk’s Office will issue a notice of non-compliance directing the filer party to correct the area of non-compliance as provided under Federal Circuit Rule 25(c)(4).  See Clerk’s Office’s Revised Document Compliance Review Procedure (pdf).

Parties should promptly contact the Clerk’s Office for clarification if they do not understand the nature of the requested correction.

Regardless of any pending review, the deadline for any responsive brief will continue to run from the date the initial document was filed and served in CM/ECF.  See Fed. R. App. P. 31(a); Fed. Cir. R. 31(a) (briefs); Fed. Cir. R. 30(a)(4) (appendix).

Paper Copies

Except following the grant of en banc consideration, filers should not submit paper copies of electronically filed briefs and appendices to the Clerk’s Office.  Instead, filers should wait until the court requests these paper copies.  See Fed. Cir. R. 25(c)(3).

Paper copies of electronically filed briefs and appendices may be mailed to the Clerk’s Office at: 

          Clerk of Court

After 4:30 p.m. on workdays, papers may be deposited until midnight in a night box at the garage entrance on H Street N.W., between 15th Street and Madison Place.

Brief and Appendix Resources

The Clerk’s Office has created quick reference documents on formal brief requirements (pdf) and appendix requirements (pdf) to assist filers with preparing compliant documents for the court.  Sample brief covers for a district court appeal (pdf) and an agency (MSPB) petition (pdf) are also available.

Non-Compliance Notices Issued