Changes to the Rules of Appellate Procedure

New court-adopted Rules of Appellate Procedure went into effect on July 1, 2013.  A June 28, 2013 Connecticut Law Tribune article highlights some of the significant changes, including requiring:

1. parties (primarily the appellant), rather than the clerk’s office, to compile the documents necessary for a proper presentation of the issues on appeal, formerly known as the “yellow record;”
2. filing these documents in a two part appendix with the initial brief (referred to as Parts I and II) and specifying mandatory and optional contents of each part; and
3. counsel to separately certify that all protected personal information has been redacted from both the brief and appendix.

According to the article, there are important exceptions to the new rules for criminal and habeas corpus appeals filed by self-represented inmates.  Also, additional specific rules apply to administrative appeals.

The article emphasizes that the old rules remain in effect for appeals pending on July 1, 2013 but a lawyer wishing to follow the new rules in appeals filed before that date can file a motion requesting permission to do so.