State of New York
Supreme Court, Appellate Division
Third Judicial Department
Hon. Elizabeth A. Garry
Presiding Justice
Robert D. Mayberger
Clerk of the Court
Clerk's Office
P.O. Box 7288, Capitol Station
Albany, NY 12224-0350
Tel: (518) 471-4777
Fax: (518) 471-4750
AD3clerksoffice@nycourts.gov
Erica Putnam Little
Managing Attorney
Quick Start Guide
*Does not constitute legal advice.
Brief Overview of the Appellate Process in the Third Department:
- Step One: a Notice of Appeal is filed
- Step Two: the appeal is perfected
- Step Three: responsive briefs are filed
- Step Four: the appeal is calendared for a Term of Court
- Step Five: oral argument is held OR the papers are submitted to a panel of Justices
- Step Six: a decision is rendered
- Taking an appeal consists of timely filing and serving the notice of appeal. This step is required to give the Appellate Division jurisdiction to decide the appeal. Because it is a prerequisite to the appeal, the Appellate Division's rules do not address the procedures for taking an appeal.
- Notices of appeal are filed in the court of original instance. Questions about how to file should be directed to that court.
- In most appeals, the Initial Informational Statement should be filed along with the notice of appeal.
- The notice of appeal and Initial Informational Statement will be forwarded to the Civil Appeals Settlement Program (CASP) but will not result in any action on the part of the Appellate Division.
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An appeal is perfected when the following four steps are
accomplished:
- The appropriate number of copies of a proper Record on Appeal are filed,
- The appropriate number of copies of Appellant's Brief are filed,
- Proof of service upon opposing counsel is filed, and
- The filing fee of $315 is paid (22 NYCRR 1250.17 [a] [1]).
- Six-Month Rule. Unless otherwise directed by Court Order, an appeal must be perfected within six months from the date on the notice of appeal (22 NYCRR 1250.9 [a]; 1250.10 [a]). If the appeal is not perfected by that deadline or an application for an extension of that deadline is not properly made, the appeal is automatically dismissed by operation of law.
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Methods of Perfection. There are two primary ways to perfect an
appeal:
- The Full Reproduced Record Method
- Here, appellant provides this Court with 6 complete copies of a stipulated record on appeal.
- The Appendix Method
- Here, appellant files 1 complete copy of a stipulated record on appeal and 6 copies of an appendix containing the pages from the record that are cited in appellant's brief.
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Contents of a Record on Appeal. Generally, records must include the
following:
- A title page that includes the caption of the appeal, the Appellate Division Case Number, the names, addresses, telephone numbers and email address of all attorneys involved in the appeal.
- The documents before the lower court when it issued its decision that is the subject of the appeal.
- A Table of Contents
- A CPLR 5531 Statement
- A Stipulation signed by all parties or an Order Settling the Record
- Records must be paginated in a single consecutive series, securely bound on the left-hand side and may not exceed 2 inches in thickness.
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Appellant's Brief. An Appellant's Brief must contain the following:
- A title page that includes the caption of the appeal, the Appellate Division Case Number, the contact information of the author of the brief and the amount of oral argument time requested.
- A Table of Contents
- A Table of Authorities
- Points of Argument
- A conclusion with a signature
- A Printing Specification Statement
- Appellant's Briefs must be paginated, securely bound on the left-hand side and cannot exceed 14,000 words.
- A respondent shall file its brief within 30 days of the date of service of the Appellant's submissions.
- Appellant then has the opportunity to file a reply brief. Such brief shall be filed within 10 days of the date of service of the last respondent's brief.
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Respondent's Brief. A Respondent's Brief must contain the
following:
- A title page that includes the caption of the appeal, the Appellate Division Case Number, the contact information of the author of the brief and the amount of oral argument time requested.
- A Table of Contents
- A Table of Authorities
- Points of Argument
- A conclusion with a signature
- A Printing Specification Statement
- Respondent's Briefs must be paginated, securely bound on the left-hand side and cannot exceed 14,000 words.
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Appellant's Reply Brief. A Respondent's Brief must contain the
following:
- A title page that includes the caption of the appeal, the Appellate Division Case Number, the contact information of the author of the brief.
- A Table of Contents
- A Table of Authorities
- Points of Argument
- A conclusion with a signature
- A Printing Specification Statement
- A Reply Brief must be paginated, securely bound on the left-hand side and cannot exceed 7,000 words.
- An appeal will be calendared for the next available Term of Court upon the acceptance for filing of the last respondent's brief. Generally speaking, the Court's next availability is two or three Terms in the future. For example, if the last respondent's brief is accepted for filing in February, the appeal will likely be calendared for the April or May Terms.
- Once an appeal is scheduled for a Term, it will then be placed on a specific day before a panel of five Justices.
- If oral argument was requested, the parties will appear to present their arguments to the panel. If the appeal is proceeding on submission, that panel of Justices will issue a decision after reviewing the filings.
- The Court publishes its decisions via its website (www.nycourts.gov/ad3) each Thursday by Noon. A decision can generally be expected within 6-8 weeks from the date of oral argument or submission.