Del. R. Sup. Ct. 7

As amended through November 14, 2024
Rule 7 - Commencement of appeal
(a) Notice of appeal. -An appeal shall be commenced by a notice of appeal. The notice of appeal shall be served in duplicate upon an attorney of record for each party to the proceeding below; if there is no such attorney it shall be served upon each party in the manner provided in these Rules for service of papers. Immediately following such service, such appellant shall file with the Clerk of this Court such notice, in duplicate, together with proof of service as provided in these Rules. The Clerk shall forthwith forward the duplicate thereof to the clerk of the trial court for filing in such court or to the arbitrator. Appeals from interlocutory orders shall be governed by Rule 42.
(b) Cross-appeal. -Any party may cross-appeal from any judgment or order from which an appeal may be taken.
(c) Form of notice of appeal or cross-appeal. -The notice of appeal or cross-appeal shall:
(1) Court or arbitrator. -Name the court from which the appeal is taken, name the judge entering the judgment and identify the case number therein, or provide the name and address of the arbitrator and identify the final award to which the challenge is made;
(2) Party or parties; attorney or attorneys. -Name the party or parties taking the appeal and the party or parties against whom the appeal is taken and provide the name and address of each party's attorney of record below, except as hereafter provided;
(3) Judgment or award reviewed. -Designate the judgment, order or final award, or part thereof, sought to be reviewed and the date thereof and, in a direct appeal of a criminal conviction, state the names of all codefendants with whom the appellant was tried, the date of the sentence from which the appeal is taken; and where the appeal is taken more than 30 days after the entry of the judgment or order sought to be reviewed, or, in the case of an arbitration under the Delaware Rapid Arbitration Act, more than 15 days after issuance of the final award to which challenge is made, the factual and legal grounds for the appeal time being tolled;
(4) Attorneys for parties against whom the appeal is not taken. -Designate by name and address the attorney of record for each other party to the proceeding below against whom the current appeal is not taken;
(5) Pro se litigants. -If there is no such attorney for any party, designate the name and last known address for each such party;
(6) Transcript. -Contain the designations of the transcript as required by Rule 9(e); and
(7) Forms. -Comply substantially with Official Forms A and B of these Rules. The provisions of subsections (4) and (5) above shall apply generally in any appeal including all direct appeals of criminal convictions whenever the appellant, in compliance with subsection (3) above, identifies the codefendants with whom appellant was tried.
(8) Appeal caption. -The caption of the appeal shall contain only the names of the parties below taking the appeal and the names of the parties against whom the appeal is taken.
(9) Copy of judgment or final award to be reviewed. -A copy of the order of judgment or final award sought to be reviewed, and any separate rationale for it, if available, shall be attached to the notice of appeal and to the notice of cross appeal if different from the notice of appeal, and if not available, a statement indicating such unavailability shall be included.
(d) Use of pseudonyms. -All appeals concerning domestic relations and juvenile delinquency proceedings shall be captioned and reported by use of appropriate pseudonyms selected by the Court. The Court may also assign pseudonyms to non-parties named in its orders and opinions when, in the Court's discretion, it is appropriate to protect the identity of the non-party. Any party to an appeal in which a pseudonym is assigned may move the Court to revoke the assignment, but any such motion will be granted only for good cause shown.
(e) Joint or several appeals. -Any 2 or more parties interested jointly, severally or otherwise in a judgment or order may join in an appeal therefrom, or any of them may appeal separately. When parties have filed separate timely notices of appeal, the appeals may be joined or consolidated by the Court.
(f) Death of a party. -
(i) Before notice of appeal is filed. -In civil cases or arbitrations under the Delaware Rapid Arbitration Act, if a party entitled to appeal shall die before filing a notice of appeal, the same may be filed by the personal representative of the party; if the party has no personal representative, the same may be filed by the attorney of record for the party in the trial court or before the arbitrator within the time prescribed by law.
(ii) After notice of appeal is filed. -After a notice of appeal is filed, substitution of parties shall be effected in accordance with these Rules.
(g) Disclosure of Corporate Affiliations and Financial Interest. -Each party shall file a Disclosure of Corporate Affiliations and Financial Interest, as provided for in Form P of these Rules, within fifteen (15) days of the notice of docketing the appeal, or concurrently by a party with the filing of a motion or other document seeking to expedite the proceedings, and within two (2) days of service of such a document by all other parties. However, when the State of Delaware or any other governmental entity is a party, a Disclosure of Corporate Affiliations and Financial Interests shall be filed only if that party has pertinent information to report.

Del. R. Sup. Ct. 7

Amended effective 6/1/2015; amended June 14, 2021, effective 7/6/2021.