Notice of Appeal – Federal Court

Notice of Appeal – Federal Court

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
[________________________________] DISTRICT OF [____________________]
[________________] DIVISION

[Full Party Name(s)],

Plaintiff(s)/Appellee(s),

v.

[Full Party Name(s)],

Defendant(s)/Appellant(s).

District Court Case No.: [____]-cv-[________________________________]

Circuit Court Appeal No.: [____] (assigned upon docketing in Court of Appeals)

District Court Judge: Hon. [________________________________]

NOTICE OF APPEAL

(Fed. R. App. P. 3(c); 28 U.S.C. §§ 1291, 1292)

PRELIMINARY STATEMENT — JURISDICTIONAL NOTICE

The timely filing of a Notice of Appeal is mandatory and jurisdictional. A court of appeals
lacks jurisdiction to hear an appeal if the Notice of Appeal is not timely filed. Bowles v.
Russell, 551 U.S. 205 (2007). Review your deadline carefully before filing.

SECTION 1: PARTY INFORMATION

1A. Appellant(s) — Party Taking the Appeal

☐ All Plaintiffs appeal. (If checking this box, list all plaintiffs in the caption or attach list.)
☐ All Defendants appeal. (If checking this box, list all defendants in the caption or attach list.)
☐ Only the specifically named Appellant(s) above are taking this appeal.

1B. Appellee(s) — Opposing Party/Parties

SECTION 2: JUDGMENT OR ORDER BEING APPEALED

Pursuant to Federal Rule of Appellate Procedure 3(c)(1)(B), Appellant(s) hereby designate
the following judgment(s) or order(s) from which this appeal is taken:

Nature of Disposition Being Appealed:
☐ Final Judgment under 28 U.S.C. § 1291 — disposes of all claims as to all parties
☐ Interlocutory Order under 28 U.S.C. § 1292(a) — injunction granted/refused/modified
☐ Interlocutory Order under 28 U.S.C. § 1292(b) — certified by district court; certification
attached at ECF No. [____]
☐ Collateral Order Doctrine — order conclusively determines disputed question, resolves
important issue separate from the merits, effectively unreviewable on final appeal
☐ Other jurisdictional basis: [________________________________]

Note: This appeal encompasses all orders that, for purposes of appeal, merge into the
designated judgment or appealable order, as provided by FRAP 3(c)(4).

SECTION 3: COURT TO WHICH APPEAL IS TAKEN

Notice is hereby given that the above-named Appellant(s) appeal to the:

United States Court of Appeals for the [________________________________] Circuit

The district court's judgment was entered by the United States District Court for the
[________________________________] District of [____________________].

SECTION 4: JURISDICTIONAL STATEMENT

4A. Basis for District Court Jurisdiction

☐ 28 U.S.C. § 1331 — Federal question
☐ 28 U.S.C. § 1332 — Diversity of citizenship (Amount in controversy: $[________])
☐ 28 U.S.C. § 1333 — Admiralty
☐ Other: [________________________________]

4B. Basis for Appellate Jurisdiction

☐ 28 U.S.C. § 1291 — Final decisions of the district courts
☐ 28 U.S.C. § 1292(a)(1) — Interlocutory injunction orders
☐ 28 U.S.C. § 1292(b) — Certified interlocutory order
☐ 28 U.S.C. § 1294 — Circuits in which decisions reviewable
☐ Other: [________________________________]

SECTION 5: DEADLINE CALCULATION AND TIMELINESS

5A. Applicable Deadline — Civil Cases (FRAP 4(a))

Judgment/Order Entered On: [__/__/____]
This Notice of Appeal Filed On: [__/__/____]
Notice is Timely: ☐ Yes ☐ Extension sought (see Section 5C)

5B. Applicable Deadline — Criminal Cases (FRAP 4(b))

5C. Extension of Time (If Applicable) — FRAP 4(a)(5)

☐ Appellant moves for an extension of time under FRAP 4(a)(5) on the grounds of:
☐ Excusable neglect
☐ Good cause

Motion for Extension of Time filed: ☐ Yes (ECF No. [____]) ☐ Concurrently herewith

Note: A motion for extension must be filed within 30 days after the original appeal
deadline expires. Extensions are limited to 30 days beyond the original deadline or 14 days
after the extension order is entered, whichever is later. FRAP 4(a)(5)(C).

SECTION 6: CROSS-APPEAL (IF APPLICABLE)

☐ This notice also constitutes a cross-appeal by [________________________________]
from the same judgment or order(s) identified in Section 2, or from the following additional
order(s):

Note: A cross-appeal is governed by FRAP 4(a)(3). A party who is served with a notice of
appeal may file a notice of cross-appeal within 14 days after the date on which the first
notice of appeal is filed, or within the original time period for appeal, whichever expires later.

SECTION 7: FILING FEE AND IN FORMA PAUPERIS

7A. Filing Fee

The docketing fee for a civil appeal is currently $605.00 (composed of the $5.00
filing fee under 28 U.S.C. § 1917 and the $600 docketing fee), payable to the Clerk of
the United States District Court at the time of filing.

☐ Filing fee of $[________] has been paid concurrently with this Notice.
Payment Method: ☐ Check ☐ Money Order ☐ Pay.gov ☐ Credit Card
Receipt/Confirmation Number: [________________________________]

☐ No filing fee is required — Appellant is the United States Government.

☐ Appellant is proceeding In Forma Pauperis (IFP):
☐ IFP was previously granted by the District Court (ECF No. [____], [__/__/____])
☐ Motion for Leave to Proceed IFP filed concurrently (see ECF No. [____])

7B. IFP Checklist (If Applicable)

☐ Application to Proceed In Forma Pauperis (AO Form 239 or local equivalent) completed
☐ Financial affidavit disclosing income, assets, and expenses attached
☐ Declaration under 28 U.S.C. § 1746 supporting IFP application signed
☐ Statement of the issues to be presented on appeal attached (28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(1))

SECTION 8: DOCKETING STATEMENT REMINDER

Pursuant to FRAP 12 and applicable circuit rules, Appellant must file a Docketing Statement
and/or Civil Appeal Pre-Argument Statement with the Court of Appeals within the time period
specified by that Court.

Docketing Statement Checklist:

☐ Circuit docketing statement form obtained from [Circuit] Circuit website
☐ Case name, district court case number, and appeal number completed
☐ Nature of action and result below described
☐ Statutory basis for jurisdiction (district court and appellate) identified
☐ Date of judgment or order appealed identified
☐ Issues to be raised on appeal listed
☐ Statement of related cases completed
☐ Corporate disclosure statement (FRAP 26.1) filed if applicable
☐ Transcript order filed with district court (if record designation needed)
☐ Filing fee paid or IFP status confirmed

SECTION 9: APPELLATE COUNSEL INFORMATION

Lead Counsel Address: [________________________________]
[________________________________]
[________________________________], [____] [__________]
Telephone: ([____]) [____]-[________]
Email: [________________________________]

SECTION 10: SIGNATURE AND CERTIFICATION

Dated: [__/__/____]

Respectfully submitted,

Signature: [________________________________]

[________________________________]
[Bar No. [________________________________]]
[________________________________] (Firm)
[________________________________]
[________________________________], [____] [__________]
([____]) [____]-[________]
[________________________________] (Email)
Counsel for Appellant(s) [________________________________]

SECTION 11: CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE

I hereby certify that on [__/__/____], I electronically filed the foregoing Notice of Appeal
with the Clerk of the United States District Court for the [________________________________]
District of [____________________] using the CM/ECF system, which will send notification of
such filing to all counsel of record registered with CM/ECF.

☐ I further certify that I served the foregoing on the following non-CM/ECF participants by
[☐ first-class mail ☐ email ☐ hand delivery] on [__/__/____]:

Signature: [________________________________]
[________________________________], Counsel for Appellant(s)

SECTION 12: POST-FILING CHECKLIST

Sources and References

• FRAP Rule 3: https://www.law.cornell.edu/rules/frap/rule_3
• FRAP Rule 4: https://www.law.cornell.edu/rules/frap/rule_4
• 28 U.S.C. § 1291: https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/28/1291
• 28 U.S.C. § 1292: https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/28/1292
• Bona Law — Calculating Notice of Appeal Deadlines: https://www.bonalaw.com/insights/legal-resources/calculating-the-deadline-for-a-notice-of-appeal-in-federal-court
• Federal Procedural Compliance — Notice of Appeal: https://proceduralcompliance.org/federal-notice-of-appeal/