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The Court may, with or without a motion, impose a penalty not to exceed $2,500 against any party and/or party's counsel in any civil case in which there is a direct appeal, application for discretionary appeal, application for interlocutory appeal, petition for certiorari, or motion which the Court determines to be frivolous. The party or party's counsel may respond to such a motion within 10 days or, if no motion was filed, file a motion for reconsideration within 10 days of receipt of the order. The imposition of such penalty shall constitute a money judgment in favor of appellee against appellant or appellants counsel or in favor of appellant against appellee or appellee's counsel, as the Court directs. Upon filing of the remittitur in the trial court, the penalty may be collected as are other money judgments. |
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| Breach of any of these rules may subject the offender to contempt and revocation of the license to practice in the Supreme Court. |
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Rule 8. NOTICE OF DOCKETING. |
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| The Clerk shall notify all attorneys and all pro se parties of the docketing dates of all appeals, petitions for certiorari, and applications for appeal. |
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| The Court may issue supersedeas or other orders whenever deemed necessary. Service of motions for supersedeas shall be made on the opposing party or attorney before filing and so certified. A copy of the order being appealed and a copy of the Notice of Appeal must be included with the motion. |
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Rule 10. BRIEFS: TIME OF FILING. |
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Appellant's and cross-appellant's briefs shall be filed within 20 days after the case is docketed (see also Rules 50 and 51, regarding requests for oral argument). Appellee's and cross appellee's briefs shall be filed within 40 days after the case is docketed or 20 days after the filing of appellant's or cross appellant's briefs, whichever is later. Appeal and cross appeal may be argued in one brief, but this shall not extend the time for filing.
Failure to comply with an order of the Court directing the filing of a brief may cause the appeal to be dismissed and may subject the offender to sanctions. See Rule 7. |
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| To determine the due date for filing, start counting with the day after docketing, including weekends and holidays. When an expiration date falls on a Saturday, Sunday, or an official state or federal holiday, the time for filing is extended to the next business day. |
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Rule 12. EXTENSION OF TIME. |
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Extensions of time for filing petitions for certiorari, applications, and motions for reconsideration will be granted only in unusual circumstances and only if the request is filed before the time for filing the pleading has expired.
Requests for extension of time for filing briefs should be directed by letter to the Clerk sufficiently in advance of the due date so that if the request is denied the briefs can still be filed within the time fixed by these rules.
Requests not showing service on the opposing party will not be honored.
A copy of the letter or order granting the extension must be included as an exhibit to the document for which the extension was granted. |
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Definition
Prior to filing, including filing by facsimile, service on opposing attorneys or pro se parties, stating their names and addresses, shall be certified. Briefs, petitions for certiorari, applications for appeal, and all motions and requests not so certified will not be accepted for filing.
In appeals involving death penalties, murder, aircraft hijacking, and treason, copies of the notice of appeal, briefs, motions, and all other filings must be served on the Attorney General, the District Attorney, and the attorney for the accused |
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Rule 15. NUMBER OF COPIES. |
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Definition
| An original and seven copies shall be filed of briefs, petitions for certiorari, applications for appeal, motions, and responses. |
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| All filings shall be printed or typed with not less than double-spacing between the lines, except in block quotations or footnotes. Margins shall be no less than one inch at the top, bottom and sides. The type size shall not be smaller than 12-point courier font or 14-point Times New Roman. |
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Rule 17. DOCUMENTS: FORMAT. |
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Except for requests which should be made by letter to the Clerk, see Rules 12, 20 and 51, petitions, applications and motions shall be on letter size (8 1/2" x 11") paper with a back cover of recyclable paper that is heavier than regular stationery and shall be STAPLED at the top.
Responses should be filed as briefs, see Rule 18. |
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Term
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Definition
| All briefs and responses shall be typed or printed on letter size (8 1/2"x 11") paper with covers on the front and back, STAPLED on the left-hand side in booklet form. Covers shall be of recyclable paper, heavier than regular stationery, and shall bear the style of the case, the case number, and the name or names of the persons preparing the brief, along with their bar numbers, if attorneys. |
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Rule 20. BRIEFS: PAGE LIMITATION. |
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| Briefs, petitions for certiorari, applications for appeal, motions, and responses shall be limited to 30 pages in civil cases, except upon written request directed by letter to the Clerk and authorized by the Court prior to the due date of the filing. |
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Rule 21. BRIEFS: PAGE NUMBERING. |
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| The pages of each brief shall be sequentially numbered with arabic numbers. |
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Rule 22. BRIEFS: ARGUMENT AND AUTHORITY. |
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| Any enumerated error not supported by argument or citation of authority in the brief shall be deemed abandoned. All citations of authority must be full and complete. Georgia citations must include the volume and page number of the official Georgia reporters (Harrison, Darby or Lexis). Cases not yet reported shall be cited by the Supreme Court or Court of Appeals case number and date of decision. The enumeration of errors shall be deemed to include and present for review all judgments necessary for a determination of the errors specified. |
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Rule 29. PERSONAL REMARKS. |
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| Personal remarks which are discourteous or disparaging to opposing counsel or to any judge are strictly forbidden, whether oral or written. |
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| Unless otherwise provided by the Court, oral argument is limited to 20 minutes for each side except in direct appeals of judgments imposing the death penalty, which are limited to 30 minutes for each side, and appeals granted under Rule 34 (4), which are limited to 10 minutes for each side. Appeals, cross appeals, and companion cases shall be considered to be one case for the purpose of oral argument. Parties must divide the allotted time by agreement among themselves. The yellow podium light indicates 5 minutes of argument time remain; the red podium light indicates that time has expired. |
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Rule 55. COURTROOM DECORUM.
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Definition
1) Talking, reading newspapers or other material, and audibly studying briefs and arranging papers are prohibited in the courtroom without the express permission of the Court. The lawyers' lounge has been provided for these purposes.
(2) All counsel appearing before the Court must be properly attired. |
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Rule 66. RECORD UNDER SEAL. |
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| All pleadings, briefs, orders, transcripts, exhibits, and any other written or recorded materials that are part of the record shall be considered and treated by the Court as confidential. Upon conclusion of the appellate proceedings, the record will be resealed, and the contents of the record shall not be disclosed, except upon order of this Court. |
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