Tips Regarding Appeals to the Alabama Supreme Court in Civil Matters
| Publication year | 2021 |
| Pages | 0420 |
By Justice A. Kelli Wise
When appealing to the Alabama Supreme Court, practitioners must comply with the Alabama Rules of Appellate Procedure. Those rules set forth the steps for filing an appeal, information regarding time limitations, and detailed and technical requirements for filings in the court. It is also imperative that practitioners keep abreast of any recent amendments to those rules. This article touches on a few of those rules and on some practical matters that might be helpful to practitioners as they prepare to navigate the appellate process and to file a brief in the Alabama Supreme Court.1
General Filing Provisions
Rule 25(a)(1), Ala. R. App. P., provides that documents required or permitted to be filed in an appellate court must be filed with the clerk of that court. Filing may be accomplished by mail addressed to the clerk, Rule 25(a)(3)(A), or electronically using the Appellate Courts' Online Information Service ("ACIS"), located at https://acis.alabama.gov. ACIS is a separate and distinct system from Alafile, which is used to file documents electronically at the trial-court level. With regard to electronic filing, Rule 25(a)(2), provides: "Documents filed electronically shall be filed consistent with Rule 57, Interim Electronic Filing and Service Rule, originally adopted effective October 3, 2007, and incorporated as Rule 57 of these rules on October 1, 2010." Rule 57(a), provides:
"Documents in proceedings before an appellate court may be filed, served, and preserved in an electronic format in lieu of the traditional paper format. Except for service of the record on appeal as provided in subsection (j)(3), the provisions for e-filing and service do not apply to parties who are proceeding pro se. These Rules of Appellate Procedure shall be fully applicable to e-filed documents to the extent these rules are not modified by this rule."
Unfortunately, technological difficulties on a deadline date could cause a party to miss a filing deadline. Rule 57(k) sets forth the steps a practitioner must take in such an event. Specifically, the party must file the document and a motion to accept the document as timely filed in the appellate court "no later than the first day on which the appellate court is open for business following the deadline date for filing the document." Rule 57(k). In the motion, the party must include a declaration stating the reason or reasons why they missed the deadline and stating why the document should be accepted as timely filed. Form B to Rule 57(k). It is imperative that practitioners filing documents electronically familiarize themselves with Rule 57.
Rule 32 sets forth detailed provisions regarding the form of briefs, petitions, motions, and other pa-pers.2 Included in Rule 32 are formatting details regarding paper size, line spacing, margins, font, type style, and justification.
Practitioners should be aware that, effective October 1, 2020, Rule 32 was amended to provide that the font to be used for the text of all documents filed in our appellate courts, including the text of footnotes, is Century Schoolbook 14, "unless the attorney or unrepresented party certifies at the end of the document filed that access to equipment capable of producing that font is not reasonably available and that the font style used or the handwriting constitutes the closest approximation of Century Schoolbook 14 under the circumstances." Rule 32(a)(7).
The Record On Appeal
The Alabama Supreme Court "'cannot consider evidence that is not contained in the record on appeal because this court's appellate review "'is restricted to the...
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