State of New York
Court of Appeals
Technical Specifications & Instructions for Submission of Briefs and Record Material in Digital Format
1. Each Court of Appeals brief submitted in digital format shall be in text searchable portable document format (PDF). Lower court briefs and record material submitted in digital format pursuant to section 500.11(k) of the Court of Appeals Rules of Practice shall be in PDF, but need not be text searchable. Court of Appeals Record material submitted in digital format shall be in PDF, but need not be text searchable.
2. The PDF briefs and PDF record material shall be submitted to the Clerk's office on Compact Disc (CD) or Digital Video Disc (DVD). The CD or DVD shall be finalized and not rewriteable.
3. The CD or DVD shall be labeled with the title of the action, the name of the party on whose behalf the CD or DVD is filed and, if the party is represented by counsel, the name of counsel. The CD or DVD shall also be labeled with a description of the PDF files contained therein.
4. The PDF briefs and PDF record material shall be saved on the CD or DVD with files named in accordance with the conventions provided by the Clerk's office.
5. Each CD or DVD shall be accompanied by a statement that the PDF brief and PDF record material contained therein are identical to the filed original printed materials, except that they need not contain an original signature.
6. The Clerk's office will not remove metadata from PDF briefs and PDF record material. Removing metadata is at all times the filing party's responsibility.
7. Submitting PDF briefs and PDF record material on CD or DVD does not relieve a party of the requirements to serve and file an original and the required number of copies of printed briefs and record material under the Court's Rules and the CPLR. The CD or DVD containing the PDF briefs and PDF record material shall be received by the Clerk's office no later than the filing due date for the printed briefs and record material.
8. Parties are not required to provide each other with PDF briefs and PDF record material, but may do so.
State of New York
Court of Appeals
Naming Conventions for Briefs and Record Material Filed in Digital Format
The appropriate title of the action can be found in the briefing letter sent to parties.
These naming conventions use the parties' designation in the Court of Appeals, not the court of original instance.
Abbreviations:
| appellant: app | amicus or amici brief: amicbrf |
| respondent: res | appendix: appdx |
| amicus or amici: amic | supplemental appendix: suppappdx |
| brief: brf | Appellate Division brief: ADbrf |
| reply brf: replybrf | Appellate Division reply brief: ADreplybrf |
| record on appeal: Rec | Brief in response to amicus brief: BrfRspAmic |
PDF File Naming Conventions:
Briefs: [title of action]-[party role]-[party name]-[brf].pdf
Reply Briefs: [title of action]-[party role]-[party name]-[replybrf].pdf
Appendices: [title of action]-[party role]-[party name]-[appdx].pdf
Court of Appeal Records: [title of action]-[party role]-[party name]-[Rec].pdf
Multiple Volumes (if more than one volume of a record is filed, each volume should be a separate file): [title of action]-[party role] - [party name] - [Rec-vol(1,2,etc.)].pdf
Letter Briefs (for Rule 500.11 appeals): [title of action]-[party role]-[party name]-[SSMltrbrf].pdf
Appellate Division materials:
[title of action]-[party role] - [party name] - [AD(brf) (replybrf)(Rec)].pdf
Case Example
Title of Action: Smith v Jones (as found in briefing schedule letter from Clerk's office)
Appellant: Smith
Respondents: Jones and Brown
Amici: Concerned Citizens et al.
Smith (represented by Joe Black, Esq.) files a brief and record with the Clerk.
The CD or DVD is labeled:
Smith v Jones
Appellant Smith
Joe Black, Esq.
brief & record (four volumes)
The PDF files on the CD or DVD would be named:
SmithvJones-app-Smith-brf.pdf
SmithvJones-app-Smith-Rec-vol1.pdf
SmithvJones-app-Smith-Rec-vol2.pdf
SmithvJones-app-Smith-Rec-vol3.pdf
SmithvJones-app-Smith-Rec-vol4.pdf
Jones (John Jones, appearing pro se) files a brief.
The CD or DVD is labeled:
Smith v Jones
Respondent Jones
John Jones, pro se
brief
The PDF file on the CD or DVD would be named:
SmithvJones-res-Jones-brf.pdf
Brown (represented by George Gray, Esq., Gray Law Firm) files a brief and supplemental appendix.
The CD or DVD is labeled:
Smith v Jones
Respondent Brown
George Gray, Esq., Gray Law Firm
brief & supplemental appendix
brief & supplemental appendix
The PDF files on the CD or DVD would be named:
SmithvJones-res-Brown-brf.pdf
SmithvJones-res-Brown-suppappdx.pdf
Concerned Citizens et al.(represented by Roger Red, Esq., Red Law Firm) files an amici brief.
The CD or DVD is labeled:
Smith v Jones
Amici Concerned Citizens et al.
Roger Red, Esq., Red Law Firm
amici brief
The PDF file on the CD or DVD would be named:
SmithvJones-amici-ConcernedCitizens-amicbrf.pdf