Any party moving for trial court action permitted by this Rule may include, in its motion to the trial court, a request that the clerk of the trial court temporarily retain some or all of the trial court record as provided by Rule 6(a)(3) of these Rules, or retrieve the same from the Clerk of the Law Court, if necessary for the requested trial court action.
Me. R. App. P. 3
Advisory Committee Note - November 2024
Rule 3(a)(2) is amended to include a requirement that the Clerk of the Law Court "send each party who is not represented by an attorney a form, with accompanying instructions, for the party to opt in to receiving service of documents electronically."
Restyling Notes - June 2017
Rule 3 is amended to add significant clarification and separations. This revision clarifies that the trial court retains authority to act as provided by Rule 3(c) without leave of the Law Court. Rule 3(d) is added to outline the procedure for seeking leave of the Law Court to permit trial court action not otherwise permitted by Rule 3(c).
In Rule 3(b)(4), a ruling on a motion to dismiss that does not resolve all pending claims is added to the list of trial court orders from which an appeal may be taken without causing the trial court to cease action on the matter pending resolution of the appeal. The change results in rulings on motions to dismiss being treated the same as rulings on motions for summary judgment 26 that are already addressed in the Rule. Adding the reference to motions to dismiss creates no approval for interlocutory appeals. It only notes that while such interlocutory appeals are pending, trial court consideration of the case can continue.
[Advisory Notes to Rule 3 of former Maine Rules of Appellate Procedure]
Advisory Note - August 2015
Because of the adoption of the Maine Rules of Unified Criminal Procedure, effective throughout the State of Maine as of July 1, 2015, all references and citations to the Maine Rules of Criminal Procedure have been replaced with references and citations to the Maine Rules of Unified Criminal Procedure.
Advisory Note - July 2012
Rule 3(a) is amended to make clear the need for payment of the filing fee in those cases where a filing fee is required. This requirement is also discussed in M.R. App. P. 2(a)(1) and (4), M.R. App. P. 2(b)(3), and M.R. Civ. P. 5(f).
Advisory Notes - January 1, 2001
Rule 3(a) governs docketing of appeals in the Law Court. It is derived from M.R. Civ. P. 73(f) and M.R. Crim. P. 37(d). Upon receipt of a notice of appeal, the trial court clerk must docket the appeal and then transmit a copy of the notice plus a copy of all present docket entries to the Clerk of the Law Court. The case will also be marked "Law" on the docket of the trial court. Separately, it should be noted that pursuant to Rule 2(a)(5) the clerk must also send a copy of any transcript order form required to be filed with the notice of appeal to the Clerk of the Law Court. Upon receipt of the copies of the notice of appeal and the docket entries, the Clerk of the Law Court must docket the appeal and then send each party of record a written notice of the docketing, the Law Court docket number, and the date within which the record on appeal and reporter's transcript must be filed.
Rule 3(b) reflects current practice as stated in M.R. Civ. P. 73(f) and M.R. Crim. P. 37(d) that, once the appeal is docketed by the marking of "Law" on the trial court docket, generally trial courts should take no further action in the matter pending disposition of the appeal by the Law Court. There are certain stated exceptions to this rule for both criminal and civil cases, and those exceptions are outlined in subparagraphs 1, 2, 3, and 4 of Rule 3(b). Subparagraph 1 applies to criminal cases. Subparagraph 2 applies to civil cases. Subparagraph 3 applies to child protective cases and recognizes the statutory requirements that processing of these cases continue while appeals are pending. Subparagraph 4 applies to all cases. The last sentence of the Rule separately excepts from application of the "no further action" rule, appeals from orders listed in the sentence.