4th District, Division Three

INVITATION TO FILE E-BRIEFS IN THE FOURTH APPELLATE DISTRICT, DIVISION THREE OF THE CALIFORNIA COURT OF APPEAL

The Fourth Appellate District, Division Three invites and encourages the voluntary filing of electronic briefs ("e-briefs").

Ideally, the parties will file a single e-brief - a single CD-ROM containing (a) the reporter's transcript (searchable), (b) the clerk's transcript or a joint appendix in lieu thereof, including images of all exhibits (searchable), (c) copies of all cited authorities, and (d) all briefs, hyperlinked to each other, to the record, and to the full text of all cited authorities. For example, a citation to the record would be hyperlinked to the page of the particular transcript or appendix -- and thus would be only a mouse-click away from the person reviewing the brief on a computer screen.

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 one party may prepare the e-brief, provided the filing contains all parties' briefs 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 notification to the Clerk's Office informing the court of the intention to participate in e-briefing. The Court will work with counsel to minimize delay and maximize the effectiveness of the e-briefing.

In order to assist counsel in locating service providers to prepare electronic records and briefs, the Court has included a list of vendors at the conclusion of this document. PLEASE NOTE: E-BRIEFS ARE IN ADDITION TO THE NORMAL PAPER COPIES AND MUST MEET THE FOLLOWING REQUIREMENTS:

• E-briefs must be contained on Windows-compatible CD-ROMs.
• E-briefs must be identical in content to their paper counterparts.
• E-briefs must be in a .pdf format viewable using a program such as Adobe Acrobat that is downloadable from the Internet at no cost to the user.
• E-briefs must be free of computer viruses.
• E-briefs must be accompanied by a statement, preferably within or attached to the packaging that (a) provides the instructions for viewing the record or brief and the minimum equipment required for doing so and (b) verifies the absence of computer viruses and describes the software used to ensure that they are virus-free.
• Five copies of the e-brief on separate CDs containing the entire record, all in the required format, must be filed. No copies of the e-briefs are to be served on the Supreme Court.

The Court will accept any format for electronic briefs as long as it meets the minimum requirements stated above - but counsel should recognize that the usefulness of e-briefs to the Court will depend heavily on their completeness and ease of use, and on how early they are filed.

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.

The following is a list of commercial vendors who prepare e-briefs. There may be other vendors who also provide this service. Vendors can provide exemplars and cost estimates for their services. In-house e-briefs may be prepared using Adobe Acrobat, Word, WordPerfect, or other commercially available software producing a record in the required format.

E-Brief Service Providers

[Note: 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)