INVITATION TO FILE ELECTRONIC BRIEFS IN THE
SECOND DISTRICT COURT OF APPEAL

The Second District Court of Appeal invites and encourages the filing of electronic briefs ("e-briefs"). An e-brief is a single compact disk (CD) containing searchable copies of:

(a) the reporter's transcript
(b) the clerk's transcript or a joint appendix in lieu thereof, including of all exhibits
(c) all cited authorities
(d) all briefs, with all citations to the record, authorities and other briefs hyperlinked to the cited material.

Counsel who believe that an e-brief is appropriate for an appeal should confer as early as possible with opposing counsel and should cooperate in preparing it. If, however, opposing counsel does not wish to participate, any party may file an e-brief, provided it contains all of the materials listed above, hyperlinked as described above. As a courtesy to the Court, non-participating parties shall provide electronic copies of their briefs to the party preparing the e-brief. E-briefs should be filed as early as possible, and in any event no later than 15 days after the last paper brief is filed.

Counsel must submit a written notice to the Clerk's Office of their intention to file an e-brief. The Court will work with counsel to minimize delay and maximize the effectiveness of the filing.

To assist counsel, a list of service providers that prepare electronic records and briefs appears at the end of this announcement.

The Court particularly encourages counsel to cooperate in filing an e-brief and to agree to share the cost. Counsel should not assume that the cost of preparation will be recoverable.

PROCEDURE

PLEASE NOTE: E-FILINGS ARE IN ADDITION TO THE NORMAL PAPER ORIGINAL AND MUST MEET THE FOLLOWING REQUIREMENTS.

Counsel filing electronic copies of briefs need not file the additional paper copies with this Court as required by Calif. Rules of Court, rule 8.44 (b) but must comply with rule 8.44(a) as to filing copies with the Supreme Court. Note that the Supreme Court's copies can be filed electronically under rule 8.212(c)(2)(A); please see: http://www.courtinfo.ca.gov/courts/courtsofappeal/appbriefs.cfm

• E-briefs and digital copies must be contained on Windows-compatible CDs.
• E-briefs and digital copies must be identical in both content and appearance to their paper counterparts.
• E-briefs and digital copies must either come with their own viewing programs or be viewable using:

  (a) a program such as Adobe Acrobat Reader that is downloadable from the Internet at no cost to the user
  (b) both Internet Explorer and Netscape Navigator
  (c) Microsoft Word

• E-briefs and digital copies must be free of computer viruses.
• E-briefs and digital copies must be accompanied by a statement, preferably within or attached to the packaging, that:

  (a) provides the instructions for viewing the documents
  (b) provides the minimum equipment required for viewing the documents
  (c) verifies the absence of computer viruses and describes the software used to ensure that they are virus-free

• Two copies of the CD, all in the required form, must be filed with the court with proof of service on all counsel.

No copies of the e-brief and digital copies are to be served on the Supreme Court.

E-Brief Service Providers

The following commercial vendors prepare e-briefs, and they can provide exemplars and cost estimates. It is also possible to prepare e-briefs in-house using Adobe Acrobat, Word, WordPerfect, or other commercially available software. This list should not be construed as an endorsement by the Court.

Animators (Virginia)
Best Evidence (Florida)
Counsel Press (Los Angeles and elsewhere)
National Data Support (California)
Pritchard Law Webs (Minnesota)
Record Press (New York)
Trial Graphix (California and elsewhere)