Good Afternoon,

I am here in place of Mr. Martin, the Clerk/Court Administrator of the Court of Appeals who altho he wanted to be with you could not do so today.

Further information is located on the Court website at www.gaappeals.us. The most current copy of the rules is posted on the web page and you can access the docket to check on document filing and motion & case disposition dates.

For this presentation, I am going to concentrate primarily on three fundamental practice principles, that if followed, will prevent the most common mistakes or problems. I hope I will not bore the more practiced members here, but being the lunch time, you can then enjoy a short after dinner nap.

Principle One: Timeliness The time frames for filing applications, briefs, oral argument requests, and motions for reconsideration are relatively short. Untimely filings can result in dismissal of the appeal or motion.

Briefs and oral arguments: 20 days, Applications: 30 days. The stamped "filed" date which is shown on the copy of the order being appealed which is required to be included in the trial court record or filed with an application is the date from which the timeliness of the appeal or application is determined.

If you need to file a request for an extension of time to file a brief, your request should be state a sufficient reason for the extension and be limited in length. The Court will usually grant an initial extension of less than 20days. Asking after the time period to file has expired or for a lengthy extension is unlikely to be successful. An old quote which is appropo to appellate practice (from Mason Cooley) is that procrastination makes easy things hard, hard things harder.

Once the Court's decision has been made, you can file an MFR and/or file an application for a writ of certiorari to the Supreme Court. Please note you have only 10 days to file an MFR. Also, note that an MFR is not considered filed until the date it is physically received in the Clerk's office not the date it is sent by the certified or commercial overnight mail. Rule 37.

Principle Two: Communication with your Client: Make sure your client is informed of filings, given an approximate time for the decision to come down, and notice of the disposition of the case or motion. We constantly receive these simple inquiries from inmates.

Remember how important the case is to your client. Put yourself in their place.

If your client does send us correspondence concerning a pending appeal, we will copy you on the answer while informing the inmate to address further correspondence you.

Principle Three: Make the Task Easy for the Judges/ Staff Attorneys/Court:

If you can follow this tip, you are likely to be more successful in your appellate practice.

In Making the Process Easy for the Court first be sure that the Notice of Appeal has your request for the record and all needed transcripts. If later, the record needs to be supplemented, you must file a motion to supplement. Remember, the Court cannot consider documents that are not found in the record which was transmitted by the trial court clerk.

Next, make sure that your briefs, applications, & motions are in the proper format pursuant to Rule 1. The purpose of the Rules are not to trip you up, but to simplify the job for the Court.

Remember to use a font size 10 cpi or larger, assemble the papers so they can be opened flat, preferable fastened at the top. Make sure there are a sufficient number of copies for the whole panel of three judges. Clearly mark citations to both authorities and the record. Rule 25.

Well organized briefs and applications will be more easily understood. As quoted in a federal court decision from the 7th Circuit, Judges are not pigs, hunting for truffles buried in briefs. U.S. v. Dunkel, 927 F. 2d 955, 956 (1991) Make sure your brief addresses the standard of review of any errors alleged.

Motions should have clearly articulated reasons for the requests.

Remember to proof read, proof read, and proof read again.

Consider implementing a final check procedure on the rule requirements before your file your document.

Most particularly, make sure all your documents have been signed (conformed copies are not permitted). This is a very common error.

Next, make sure your document is accompanied by a proper certificate of service which has been executed and includes the names of appropriate opposing counsel with a full mailing address. Rule 6 insures that the opposing party will receive the docketing notice which includes briefing and other instructions.

The final check should also make sure that the filing fee or affidavit of indigency is included with the filing of any appellant's application or brief. Your documents will not be accepted for docketing if these items have not been provided.

Requests for Court action should always be in motion, not letter form. Also, make sure your motion is signed and has a proper certificate of service.

Compound motions are not permitted. Multiple motions in a single document might result in a particular request being overlooked by the Court. Rule 41.

If you decide to pursue a writ of certiorari, a notice of intent is to be filed with the COA within 10 days of the decision. The purpose of the notice of intent is to notify the COA that the remititur should be held so that jurisdiction is not returned to the trial court.

ORAL ARGUMENT Make the task easy for the Court is also an important principle for oral argument.

Do not short change yourself in time. Ask for the full 15 minutes unless you are sure 10 or 5 minutes will suffice. I have seen well prepared attorneys become flustered when they have asked for 5 minutes and court begins to ask a number of questions using up the precious time minute by minute.

Prepare a good opening and provide structure to your argument. Your job is not to put the judges to sleep.

Give direct, concise answers to judges' question. If you do not know the answer, you can ask permission to submit a supplemental brief addressing the question. Do not evade or postpone an answer.

Have record citations for major points and essential case/stautory citations handy.

When you feel the judges are not listening or do not agree with your argument, consider this Practice Tip from the North Dakota Supreme Court: When you discover you are riding a dead horse, the best strategy is to dismount.

In concluding my presentation, I will provide some tips on accessing records filed in the Court of Appeals. For those of you who have never filed an appeal, you can review the trial court record and transcripts at our office from 8 :30 am to 4:30 pm Mon-Friday. Please call ahead to make sure that the record you seek is available since sometimes that record may be in use in a judge's office and will not be immediately available. Copies of records are $1.00 per page.

The Court does not accept fax filings and does not usually fax documents to attorneys.

Older appeal files are accessible on microfilm either at our offices or the State Archives. Although we microfilm the appellate file, because of storage space, the trial court records are usually destroyed one year after remittitur, If you expect to need the record again in a subsequent proceeding, you should request the Clerk, as soon as possible after disposition of the appeal, by letter, to hold the record . Otherwise, you may have to obtain the record from the trial court clerk.

I am leaving handouts which include a list of practice tips and checklists to help you prepare your briefs and applications. If you have any questions, I will be happy to attempt to answer them. Otherwise, I hope you will find your practice in the Court of Appeals rewarding and problem free. If Mr. Martin or I can ever help you, you can contact us at: 404-656-3450 or by email through the web page.