Insights Into Appellate Practice
By Petra H . Mandigo Hulm
The North Dakota Supreme Court will hold a continuing legal education series with the intent to provide insights into appellate practice . The seminars will be held on Zoom from 12-1 p . m . on the third Friday of August through November .
• August 20 : Appealability – Intended for legal professionals . Presenter : Clerk ’ s Office .
• September 17 : Format and Filing – Open to anyone interested in learning more about appellate document format and filing . Presenter : Clerk ’ s Office .
• October 15 : Appellate Briefs and Arguments – Intended for legal professionals . Presenters : Clerk ’ s Office and Justice ( s ).
• November 19 : Media Coverage of the Supreme Court – Intended for news media . Presenter : Clerk ’ s Office and Jack McDonald .
As a preview to the education series , below are tips based on recent rule amendments . Recent years ’ amendments to the rules of appellate procedure include changes to the format of briefs , how service is accomplished , electronic filing , and oral argument .
5 . Documents , including briefs and appendices , should be consecutively numbered from number one ( 1 ) on the cover through the end .
6 . All documents must be properly redacted .
7 . Briefs now have page limits rather than word limits .
8 . If oral argument is requested , a short statement is required in the brief explaining why oral argument would be helpful to the court and the cover of the brief must state “ ORAL ARGUMENT REQUESTED .”
9 . Effective Aug . 1 , if oral argument is scheduled , a party that did not request oral argument in a principal brief must provide notice of an intent to participate . The notice must be served and filed within five days of service of the notice of oral argument under this rule . Rebuttal is now limited to 10 minutes .
10 . Following a remand by opinion where the Supreme Court retains jurisdiction , a party has 14 days to request supplemental briefing or oral argument providing details of the specific additional submissions or proceedings the party believes would be useful to the court .
11 . Electronic filing and electronic service are now required for all documents , except by self-represented and inmates ' parties .
Watch the Supreme Court website and news emails for more information on the continuing legal education series .
Petra H . Mandigo Hulm is the clerk of court for the North Dakota Supreme Court .
1 . Notices of appeal , orders for transcript are filed in the Supreme Court .
2 . All notices of appeal must include a concise preliminary statement of issues .
3 . Documents should be submitted in pdf , be text-searchable , have a typed or electronic signature , and be converted to pdf directly from a word processing program .
4 . Documents should be black and white unless color is necessary . Convert , download , or scan documents with the black and white setting and lower resolution setting ( 300 dpi suggested ).
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