The appendix gives the appellate judges the parts of the trial-court record they need to decide your appeal. Some courts call it a joint appendix (Fourth Circuit, D.C. Circuit), excerpts of record (Ninth Circuit), record excerpts (Fifth Circuit) or a short appendix (Seventh Circuit). A few state courts don’t use one at all and rely on the clerk’s record.
What goes in it
- The docket entries (case history) of the court below
- The pleadings — complaint, answer — or, in a criminal or municipal case, the complaint, summons or ticket
- The judgment or order you are appealing, and the judge’s opinion or findings
- The notice of appeal
- The parts of the transcript and exhibits your argument relies on
- In New Jersey, also the transcript delivery certification and copies of unpublished opinions you cite
Order
Most rules list the contents in the order they should appear, usually chronologically after the docket entries. The appendix starts with its own table of contents listing each document, its date and the page where it begins.
Page numbers
Every page is numbered consecutively, and you cite those numbers in the brief. The style depends on the court: New Jersey uses the party’s initial plus “a” (Da1 for a defendant’s appendix, Pa1 for a plaintiff’s); the Fourth and Third Circuits use JA1; the Ninth Circuit uses volume-ER-page (1-ER-23); the Federal Circuit uses Appx1; Pennsylvania uses 1a. AppealDraft stamps the right style on every page.
Volumes and file size
Long appendices are split into volumes — each starting with the full table of contents — and e-filing systems often limit file size. AppealDraft splits large appendices into volumes at document boundaries.
Upload your record documents and we’ll build the appendix and use its page numbers in your brief.