U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit

Contacting chambers

Parties must notify the Clerk when serious settlement negotiations begin and as soon as settlement is reached, by motion or letter.

“parties are on notice that they have a mandatory duty to notify the Clerk when serious settlement negotiations begin and as soon as settlement is reached. Notification must be given by an appropriate motion or by letter to the Clerk at the earliest possible moment.”

Filing

Paper copies of electronic filings other than briefs and appendices remain suspended under Standing Order 20-2.

“Except as set out below, for all other electronic filings, including, but not limited to, motions and responsive documents, memoranda, Rule 28(j) letters, petitions for rehearing and rehearing en banc, and other petitions, the requirement to file paper copies is suspended pending further order of the court.”

Filing

Paper copies of electronically filed briefs and appendices are due in the normal course.

“Paper copies of briefs and appendices that are filed electronically on or after Tuesday, June 30, 2020, are due in the normal course. See D.C. Circuit Rule 32(d)(4).”

Filing

The court encourages Century or Times New Roman for briefs and discourages Garamond.

“Certain typefaces can be easier to read, such as Century and Times New Roman. The Court encourages the use of these typefaces. Briefs that use Garamond as the typeface can be more difficult to read and the use of this typeface is discouraged.”

Filing

Paper briefs and appendices must use binding that lies flat; spiral, comb, and wire are acceptable, while staples, metal fasteners, velo binding, and three-ring binders are not.

“The following types of binding ensure that the brief or appendix will lie flat when open: spiral (also known as coil), comb, and wire binding. The following types of binding do not permit an appendix to lie flat when open: velo (also known as strip) binding, metal fasteners or posts, and staples. Accordingly, the use of such methods is not acceptable for a brief or an appendix, nor is the use of a three-ring binder.”

Filing

Electronic appendices should be fully text searchable, including scanned items, unless a stated exception applies.

“the court expects ECF filers to prepare appendices that are fully text searchable, unless an exception applies for an item that exceeds the size limitation or is odd-sized or illegible when scanned, see D.C. Cir. Rules 25(c)(5), 32(d)(3).”

Filing

Standard briefing orders normally set intervenor and amicus briefs seven days after the principal brief of the party they support.

“Henceforth, standard briefing orders issued by the Clerk’s Office will stagger the briefing so that intervenors and amici curiae file their briefs 7 days after the brief of the party they support.”

Filing

The court strongly urges parties to limit acronyms in briefs to widely recognized ones.

“the court strongly urges parties to limit the use of acronyms. While acronyms may be used for entities and statutes with widely recognized initials, such as FERC and FOIA, parties should avoid using acronyms that are not widely known.”

Motions

A party seeking highly sensitive designation for the first time on appeal should move with the document; the motion must be on paper and address the specified security factors.

“Requests to designate documents as highly sensitive for the first time on appeal should be made by filing a motion along with the documents. In addition, a party may move to designate a previously filed document as highly sensitive. Motions to designate documents as highly sensitive must be filed in paper format and address the factors listed in Section (c)(ii) of the attached guidance from the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts.”

Sealing

Highly sensitive documents must be filed on paper or secure electronic media, rather than by ordinary electronic filing.

“Parties are required to file HSDs in paper form (or, if digital media, on a secure electronic device such as an encrypted USB drive).”