Recent Amendments to the Colorado Appellate Rules

• Publication year: 2022
• Pages: 26

Recent Amendments to the Colorado Appellate Rules No. Vol. 51, No. 8 [Page 26] Colorado Lawyer September, 2022

August, 2022

APPELLATE LAW

BY STEVEN BERNARD, GILBERT M. ROMÁN, AND MELISSA C. MEIRINK

This article discusses the appellate rules amendments that became effective on July 1, 2022.

In 2014, the Colorado Supreme Court asked the Rules of Appellate Procedure Committee (Committee) to revise and recommend changes to the Colorado Appellate Rules (Rules).^[1] Between 2014 and 2019, the Committee proposed several revisions to the Rules, which the Court approved.^[2] When the COVID-19 pandemic struck in 2020, the Committee began meeting remotely to continue analyzing potential Rules amendments but postponed submitting further changes to the Supreme Court so the Court could focus on changes to other rules that were critical to trial court operations during the pandemic (e.g., the Rules of Criminal Procedure).

The Committee submitted proposed changes to over 20 Rules in December 2021, and the Supreme Court adopted the Committee's recommended revisions in February 2022.^[3] Although practitioners might find it daunting to familiarize themselves with so many Rules changes, appellate lawyers should breathe easy; for the most part, the changes are not substantive. Rather, the Committee revised the Rules for clarity and readability, to reflect current appellate practice, and, when appropriate, to make them consistent with other Colorado court rules and the Federal Rules of Appellate Procedure. Though the revisions will not drastically impact appellate practice in Colorado, the Supreme Court wanted to allow practitioners and the public ample time to become familiar with the changes, so it delayed the effective date of the revisions until July 1, 2022. This article summarizes the revisions.

Overview of the Amendments

The Rules revisions affect a broad range of topics, including entry of appearance and withdrawal, motions and briefing, oral argument, direct appeals, case dismissal, amicus curiae participation, certiorari review, and original proceedings in the Supreme Court The revisions are aimed at promoting efficiency, providing parties with clear guidance, and making the Rules more understandable to attorneys and the public alike.

Scope and Applicability

Rules 1 and 2 address the scope and applicability of the appellate rules. The Court made minor clarifying and organizational changes to these rules.

Rule 1 Rule 1 discusses the scope of the Rules. Subsection (f) was added to clarify that matters involving the Supreme Court's original jurisdiction are governed by the Rules. A new comment explains that aportion of Rule 1(d), addressing briefing requirements, was moved to Rule 28(a) (7)(b), and that another portion of Rule 1(d), concerning motions to dismiss appeals, was relocated to Rule 42(b).

Rule 2 Rule 2 addresses the appellate courts' authority to suspend the Rules. The Supreme Court made a minor stylistic revision to this rule.

Direct Appeals

Amendments regarding direct appeals were made to Rules 3, 3.4, 4, and 4.1.

Rule 3 Rule 3 discusses how appeals as of right are taken. The changes to Rule 3 were not substantive but make the Rule more readable, and the Comment section was updated to identify the changes.

Rule 3.4 Rule 3.4 addresses appeals in dependency and neglect proceedings. Subsection (1) was revised to clarify that, consistent with the Supreme Court's traditional practice of adhering to strict deadlines in dependency and neglect proceedings, reply briefs in support of petitions for writ of certiorari are not permitted. A parallel change was made to Rule 53(d), which discusses petitions for writs of certiorari filed in dependency and neglect proceedings.

Rule 4 Rule 4, concerning the timing of appeals taken as a matter of right, previously contained dense paragraphs that were not reader friendly. As revised, Rule 4 maintains the distinct procedures for civil and criminal appeals, but the Supreme Court made structural changes and added subheadings and paragraphs within these sections for greater clarity and searchability.

Subsection (a) still applies to general appeals in civil cases. The Supreme Court added headings for timing and multiple appeals filed for the same proceeding, along with a section to better explain the effect of a CRCP 59 motion on the deadline to file an appeal. At the suggestion of the Court of Appeals' Clerk's Office, the Supreme Court streamlined the language in subsection (a) pertaining to CRCP 59 and clarified in subsection (a)(3)...