N.C. R. App. P. B
Documents composed for an appeal and presented to either appellate court for filing shall be formatted and styled as described in this appendix.
GENERAL REQUIREMENTS
Documents shall be letter size (81/2 x 11"). Documents shall be prepared using a proportionally spaced font with serifs that is no smaller than 12-point and no larger than 14-point in size. Examples of proportionally spaced fonts with serifs include, but are not limited to, Constantia, Century, Century Schoolbook, and Century Old Style typeface. To allow for binding of documents, a margin of approximately one inch shall be left on all sides of the page. The formatted page should be approximately 61/2 inches wide and 9 inches long. Tabs are located at the following distances from the left margin: 1/2", 1", 11/2", 2", 41/4" (center), and 5".
CAPTIONS OF DOCUMENTS
Documents shall be headed by a caption. The caption contains: the number to be assigned the case by the clerk; the Judicial District from which the case arises; the appellate court to whose attention the document is addressed; the style of the case showing the names of all parties to the action, except as provided by Rule 42; the county from which the case comes; the indictment or docket numbers of the case below (in records on appeal and in motions and petitions in the cause filed prior to the filing of the record); and the title of the document. The caption shall be placed beginning at the top margin of a cover page and again on the first textual page of the document.
No. ______ (Number) DISTRICT
(SUPREME COURT OF NORTH CAROLINA) (or)
(NORTH CAROLINA COURT OF APPEALS)
********************************
STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA or (Name of Plaintiff) | ) | |
) | ||
) | From (Name) County | |
) | ||
v | ) | No. ________ |
) | ||
(Name of Defendant) | ) |
********************************
(TITLE OF DOCUMENT)
********************************
The caption should reflect the title of the action (all parties named except as provided by Rule 42) as it appeared in the trial division. The appellant or petitioner is not automatically given topside billing; the relative positions of the plaintiff and defendant should be retained.
The caption of a component of the record on appeal and of a notice of appeal from the trial division should include directly below the name of the county, the indictment or docket numbers of the case in the trial division. Those numbers, however, should not be included in other documents, except a petition for writ of certiorari or other petitions and motions in which no record on appeal has yet been created in the case. In notices of appeal or petitions to the Supreme Court from decisions of the Court of Appeals, the caption should show the Court of Appeals docket number in similar fashion.
Immediately below the caption of each document, centered and underlined, in all capital letters, should be the title of the document, e.g., PETITION FOR DISCRETIONARY REVIEW UNDER N.C.G.S. § 7A-31, or DEFENDANT-APPELLANT'S BRIEF. A brief filed in the Supreme Court in a case previously heard and decided by the Court of Appeals is entitled NEW BRIEF.
INDEXES
A brief or petition that is ten pages or more in length and all appendixes to briefs (Rule 28) must contain an index to the contents.
The index should be indented approximately 3/4" from each margin, providing a 5" line. The form of the index for a printed record should be as follows (indexes for briefs are addressed in Appendix E):
(Printed Record)
INDEX | |
Organization of the Court .................................................. | ................................ 1 |
Complaint of Tri-Cities Mfg............................................... | ................................ 1 |
* * * | |
*PLAINTIFF'S EVIDENCE: | |
John Smith ......................................................................... | .............................. 17 |
Tom Jones ........................................................................... | .............................. 23 |
Defendant's Motion for Nonsuit ........................................ | .............................. 84 |
*DEFENDANT'S EVIDENCE: | |
John Q. Public .................................................................... | .............................. 86 |
Mary J. Public .................................................................... | .............................. 92 |
Request for Jury Instructions ............................................ | ............................ 101 |
Charge to the Jury ............................................................. | ............................ 101 |
Jury Verdict ........................................................................ | ............................ 102 |
Order or Judgment ............................................................. | ............................ 108 |
Appeal Entries ............................................................... | ................................. 109 |
Order Extending Time .................................................. | ................................. 111 |
Proposed Issues on Appeal ........................................... | ................................. 113 |
Certificate of Service ..................................................... | ................................. 114 |
Stipulation of Counsel ................................................... | ................................. 115 |
Names and Addresses of Counsel ................................. | ................................. 116 |
USE OF THE TRANSCRIPT OF EVIDENCE WITH RECORD ON APPEAL
Those portions of the printed record that correspond to the items asterisked (*) in the sample index above would be omitted if the transcript option were selected under Rule 9(c). In their place, counsel should insert a statement in substantially the following form:
"Per Rule 9(c) of the Rules of Appellate Procedure, the transcript of proceedings in this case, taken by (name), transcriptionist, from (date) to (date) and consisting of (# of volumes) volumes and (# of pages) pages, numbered (1) through (last page #), is filed pursuant to Rule 12."
Entire transcripts should not be inserted into the printed record. Transcript pages inserted into the printed record will be treated as a narration and will be printed at the standard page charge. Counsel should note that transcripts will not be reproduced with the printed record but will be treated and used as an exhibit.
TABLE OF CASES AND AUTHORITIES
Immediately following the index and before the inside caption, all briefs, petitions, and motions that are ten pages or greater in length shall contain a table of cases and authorities. Cases should be arranged alphabetically, followed by constitutional provisions, statutes, regulations, and other textbooks and authorities. The format should be similar to that of the index. Citations should be made according to the most recent edition of The Bluebook: A Uniform System of Citation. Citations to regional reporters shall include parallel citations to official state reporters.
FORMAT OF BODY OF DOCUMENT
Paragraphs within the body of the printed record should be single-spaced, with double spaces between paragraphs. The body of petitions, notices of appeal, responses, motions, and briefs should be double-spaced, with captions, headings, issues, and long quotes single-spaced.
Adherence to the margins is important because the document will be reproduced front and back and will be bound on the side. No part of the text should be obscured by that binding.
Quotations of more than three lines in length should be indented 3/4" from each margin and should be single-spaced. The citation should immediately follow the quote.
References to the record on appeal should be made using a parenthetical in the text: (R pp 38-40). References to the transcript, if used, should be made in a similar manner: (T p 558, line 21).
TOPICAL HEADINGS
The various sections of the brief or petition should be separated (and indexed) by topical headings, centered and underlined, in all capital letters.
Within the argument section, the issues presented should be set out as a heading in all capital letters and in paragraph format from margin to margin. Sub-issues should be presented in similar format, but block indented 1/2" from the left margin.
NUMBERING PAGES
The cover page containing the caption of the document (and the index in records on appeal) is unnumbered. The index and table of cases and authorities are on pages numbered with lowercase Roman numerals, e.g., i, ii, iv.
While the page containing the inside caption and the beginning of the substance of the petition or brief bears no number, it is page 1. Subsequent pages are sequentially numbered by Arabic numbers, flanked by dashes, at the center of the top margin of the page, e.g., -4-.
An appendix to the brief should be separately numbered in the manner of a brief.
SIGNATURE AND ADDRESS
Unless filed pro se, documents filed in a case will bear the signature of at least one counsel participating in the case, as in the example below. The name, address, telephone number, State Bar number, and e-mail address of the person signing, together with the capacity in which that person signs the document, will be included. When counsel or the firm is retained, the firm name should be included above the signature; however, if counsel is appointed in an indigent criminal appeal, only the name of the appointed counsel should appear, without identification of any firm affiliation. Counsel participating in argument must have signed the brief in the case prior to that argument.
(Retained) [LAW FIRM NAME]
By: ______________________
[Name]
By: ______________________
[Name]
Attorneys for Plaintiff-Appellants
P. O. Box 0000
Raleigh, NC 27600
(919) 999-9999 State Bar No. _______
[e-mail address]
(Appointed) ______________________
[Name]
Attorney for Defendant-Appellant
P. O. Box 0000
Raleigh, NC 27600
(919) 999-9999
State Bar No. _______
[e-mail address]
N.c. R. App. P. B
Amended November 17, 2020, effective 1/1/2021; amended October 13, 2021, effective 1/1/2022; amended June 18, 2024, effective 6/18/2024.
The former "Appendix of Tables and Forms," 287 N.C. 671, was repealed and replaced with Appendixes A through F on 7 December 1982, 306 N.C. 757.