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Third Circuit Civil Appeals Toolkit
Practical Law Toolkit w-016-4001 (Approx. 6 pages)
Third Circuit Civil Appeals Toolkit
by Practical Law Litigation
| Maintained • USA (National/Federal) |
As of July 1, 2023, the Third Circuit has adopted a filingdeadline of 5:00 p.m. ET for all filings other than those to initiate anappeal, with limited exceptions. See Legal update:Third Circuit Adopts 5:00 p.m. Filing Deadline.
Resources to assist attorneys litigating a civil appeal to the US Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. This includes guidance on commencing the appeal, preparing the briefs and appendix, making motions, and presenting oral argument.
When litigating a civil action in federal district court, a party generally has the right to appeal to a federal court of appeals (also known as a circuit court) from a final order or judgment that awards relief against the party or denies some of the relief it sought (28 U.S.C. §§ 1291 and 1295 and see Forney v. Apfel, 524 U.S. 266, 271 (1998)). An aggrieved party normally also has the right to appeal from certain types of interlocutory (non-final) orders, such as orders granting or denying injunctions (28 U.S.C. § 1292(a)). If an order or judgment is not appealable as of right, an aggrieved party often may petition for permission to appeal (FRAP 5(a), FRCP 23(f), and 28 U.S.C. §§ 1292(b) and 1453(c)(1)).
The US Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit hears most appeals from federal district courts in Delaware, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and the US Virgin Islands (28 U.S.C. §§ 41, 87, 110, 118, and 1294; 48 U.S.C. § 1613a(c)).
This Toolkit contains resources explaining the process for litigating civil appeals in the Third Circuit, including:
- How to take an appeal.
- How to use the Third Circuit's case management/electronic case filing (CM/ECF) system.
- Preliminary steps the parties must take before addressing the merits of the appeal.
- How to prepare the appellate briefs and the appendix.
- How to make motions, if necessary.
- How to present oral argument.
- What steps a party may take after the court decides the appeal, such as petitioning for rehearing en banc.