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David Boies Gets a Letter From the Appeals Court Chief Clerk

By Pamela Jones et al.

OK. I'm kidding around. It's probably just a form letter, not directed particularly to Boies or any other lawyers cc'd on the letter. It's from the Clerk of the Court of the Appeals Court for the Tenth Circuit. It's full of instructions, which will show you why appellate practice can be very annoying and why it costs you even if you paid your lawyer already ("In addition to the docketing statement, all transcripts must be ordered within 10 days of the date of this letter.... An original and 7 copies of briefs must be filed.")

Given the history, you'll have to forgive me for smiling when I read the following:

Motions for extensions of time to file briefs and appendixes are not favored and will not be granted unless they comply with 10th Cir. R. 27.3.

They don't know the Boies Boyz like we do, huh? Well, time will tell who wins that battle. My money is on the BBs. Meanwhile, the letter answers a question I had, which is that in their opening brief, which must be filed soon ("within 40 days after the date on which the district clerk notifies the parties and the circuit clerk that the record is complete for purposes of appeal"), SCO can appeal any "appropriate" aspect of the case they want to, as they are not limited to the very brief notice of appeal. So, even though they only mentioned by name the August 2007 order and the final judgment, they can bring up the July 2008 decision and the decision on the earlier Novell motion to have a trial before only a judge, not by jury.

So, this letter tells us where to find answers to our questions too.

Full post as published by Groklaw on December 03, 2008 (boomark / email).