Appellate Practice Tools and Resources

Appellate Packet for Trial Attorneys

• Notice of Appeal
• Motion for Appointment of Appellate Counsel
• Motion for Fees and Costs of Appeal 
•  Appellate Assignment Intake Form

Request for Appointment of Appellate Counsel for a Single Justice Petition (interlocutory review)

SJ Appellate Assignment Intake Form

Join the CAFL Appellate Panel

The Committee for Public Counsel Services is now accepting applications for the CAFL appellate panel certification training . Applicants must be admitted to the Massachusetts bar or be eligible for admission by October 31, 2021.

Admission into the training is competitive and not all applicants will be admitted. All admitted applicants must attend the four-day CAFL appellate training program scheduled for November 8, 10, 15, and 18, 2021. The trainings, which will be conducted by Zoom, will take place from 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. each day. There will also be an orientation by Zoom on November 4 from 4:00-5:00 p.m. The agency actively seeks to diversify its private attorney panel membership.  The application can be found here:

 CAFL appellate panel application – November 2021 training

CAFL appellate panel attorneys are compensated at $75/hour. If you have any questions about the CAFL Appellate Panel or the certification training please contact:

Andrew Cohen, CAFL Appellate Panel Director Acohen@publiccounsel.net

Ann Narris, CAFL Appellate Panel Support Unit Supervising Attorney Anarris@publiccounsel.net

Important Message: Single Justice Filing Fee Waiver

When seeking a waiver of the filing fee for a single justice petition in the Appeals Court, do not also pay the filing fee. If you file a motion to waive the filing fee (and a supporting affidavit of indigency) and pay the $315 filing fee, that $315 filing fee will automatically be charged to you and can’t be refunded to you. If your client is entitled to a waiver of the fee (and almost all of our clients are entitled to a waiver), just move for the waiver.

To avoid the unnecessary charge (and the delays that may ensue, perhaps leading to an untimely petition), all attorneys should set up a waiver account in their e-filing (Tyler) profiles and use this waiver account as the payment source. To set-up a waiver account in the e-filing (Tyler) system, simply:

1. Log into your efileMA.com account, click the “Actions” button, and select “Payment Accounts;” and
2. Select “Add Payment Account,” click “Waiver Account,” name the account, and then click “Save Changes.”

Feel free to contact Supervising Staff Attorney Ann Narris at anarris@publiccounsel.net or Trial Panel Director Drew Don at adon@publiccounsel.net if you have any questions.

 

The Law Cases – published (and Free Lexis Search Engine) Compendium of unpublished decisions (Rule 23.0 decision, formerly Rule 1:28 decisions) Child Welfare Statutes  (and Searchable Legislative Databases) DCF Regulations DCF Policies Court Rules (including Rules of Appellate Procedure & Juvenile Court Rules) CAFL Summary of the 2019 Rules of Appellate Procedure CAFL Summary of July 2020 Appeals Court Rules Massachusetts Guide to Evidence (2019)	CAFL Appellate Practice Video Oral Argument Tips (April 2020) CAFL Zoom Best Practice Guide (7-31-2020) Handout for Clients to Prepare for Zoom Hearings (CAFL Zoom Guide addendum) Docketing Statements (To be filed within 14 days of docketing) Electronic Filing Electronic Notification – Register to receive electronic notifications from the Appeals Court (recommended for all appellate attorneys) Electronic Notification – Change of email address form Forms for Use in Appeals Court Appeals Court Clerk’s Guide to Electronic Briefs Hybrid Brief Protocol (for children supporting one aspect of the judgment but challenging other aspects of the judgment) Single Justice Practice/Interlocutory Review (How-to Guide, Model Petitions, Governing Rules, requesting appellate counsel) Trial Court Administrative Order 1-19: Transcription Procedure for Appellate Review Protocol Impounded Briefs/Proper Captions Massachusetts Appeals Court and SJC oral argument calendar  SJC Oral Arguments  Live SJC oral arguments
CAFL Administration Administrative Forms and Resources (including appellate packet, billing information, and forms) CAFL Performance Standards (trial and appellate) Mentor Program Forms and Requirements	Appellate Bulletins and Other Releases Appellate Bulletins (2008-2020) 1:28 of the Week (2018-2019) CAFL Appellate Practice Tips (2018-2019)
Brief-Writing Tips General CAFL Brief-Writing Checklist Brief-Writing Tips Choosing a Font for your Appellate Brief Citing to Online Sources Bluebook Guide 20th ed (PowerPoint from Penn State Law) SJC Style Manual (2019-2020)	In Order of Appearance in an Appellate Brief Writing Proper Captions Drafting Headings and Table of Contents (written by Murray Kohn) Formatting Argument Headers Writing Compelling Issues Presented  Sample Introductions Writing a Better Facts Section Primacy and Recency (Facts Section) Drafting a Persuasive Summary of the Argument  How to Write Good Argument Headers Sample Conclusions Certificate of Compliance
General Writing Tips (Grammar, Punctuation, Etc.) (with lots of CAFL appellate examples) Parallelism Hyphens for Age and Duration Punctuation in Connection with Quotations Commas Done Right	Training Materials, Models, Research Model Motions (Don’t reinvent the wheel!) Model Briefs, FAR, Moffett materials, Templates Model Post-Argument Letters Research Memos Due Process Issue/Resource Bank Training Materials (PowerPoint presentations from the CAFL Appellate Certification Training & other trainings)

 

See all Professional Resources

Image Credit