Filing the appeal brief

I hand delivered it to the appellate court clerk in San Jose. You never know when the clerk is going to reject the brief for some silly technical reason.

I gave her my five copies, and she inspected them. They have to use 13-point font, have 1.5-inch margins, and be bound. If stapled, there must be tape covering the staples. There must be a proof of service that copies were sent to the California Supreme Court, the Santa Cruz Superior Court, and to the other angry party to the case.

In my case, her main first problem was that her computer said that I was not scheduled to file the brief yet. Because a court reporter had screwed up a transcript, I was entitled to wait until it was corrected, plus 30 days. I told her that I wanted the correction, but I did not want to wait for it. She consulted her supervisor, and decided that I would be permitted to file today.

Then she inspected my briefs. Her main quibble was that I did not have the proof of service bound in with the rest of the brief. I submitted it as a separate document. The clerk consulted her supervisor, and decided that it was okay. So she date stamped the briefs, and put them away. Julie, I think you now have 30 days to file your opposition brief.