Rule 4-4 - Filing and Service of Briefs in Civil Cases(a)Electronic Filing. Briefs shall be filed using the electronic filing system provided by the Administrative Office of the Courts. No paper copies are required. Any person proceeding pro se and any person with a disability or special need that prevents him or her from filing electronically shall be permitted to submit conventional paper filings consistent with Rule 4-7.(b)Appellant's brief. In all cases the appellant shall, within 40 days of lodging the record, file the appellant's brief with the Clerk. (c)Appellee's brief and appellee/cross-appellant's brief. The appellee shall file the appellee's brief, within 30 days after the appellant's brief is filed. If the cross-appellant is also the appellee, the two separate arguments shall be contained in one brief, and the brief shall comply with the requirements of Rule 4-2(d)(3).(d)Reply brief, reply/cross-appellee's brief, and cross-appellant's reply brief. The appellant may file a reply brief within fifteen days after the appellee's brief. If the appellant is also a cross-appellee, the two separate arguments shall be contained in one brief, and the brief shall comply with the requirements of Rule 4-2(d)(4). Any cross-appellant's reply brief shall be filed within fifteen days after the cross-appellee's brief is filed. (e)Service of Briefs. Briefs shall be served on opposing counsel and the circuit court by any method permitted by Arkansas Rule of Civil Procedure 5(b) and Administrative Order No. 21(7). Briefs tendered to the Clerk will not be filed unless evidence of service upon opposing counsel and the circuit court has been furnished to the Clerk. Evidence of service shall be included in each brief and shall comply with the requirements of Arkansas Rule of Civil Procedure 5(e).(f)Submission. The case shall be subject to call on the next Thursday (in the Supreme Court) or Wednesday (in the Court of Appeals) after the expiration of the time allowed for filing the reply brief of the appellant or the cross-appellant. After the case has been submitted to the court for decision, the court will not consider motions to dismiss because of settlement or notice of settlement.(g)Noncompliance with Briefing Rules.(1)Noncompliance discovered at the time of filing. Briefs not in compliance with Rules 4-1, 4-2, 4-3, and 4-4 shall not be accepted for filing by the Clerk. When a party timely submits a noncompliant brief that substantially complies with the rules governing briefs, the Clerk shall mark the brief "tendered," grant the party a seven-day compliance extension, and return the brief to the party for correction. If the party resubmits a compliant brief within seven calendar days, then the Clerk shall accept that brief for filing on the date it is received.(2)Noncompliance discovered after filing. Motions to dismiss the appeal for insufficiency of briefs will not be recognized. Deficiencies in the appellants' briefs will ordinarily come to the court's attention and be handled in one of the following ways: (A) If the appellee considers the appellant's brief to be defective, the appellee's brief should call the deficiencies to the court's attention and may, at the appellee's option, contain a supplemental statement of the case and facts. When the case is considered on its merits, the court may upon motion impose or withhold costs, including attorney's fees, to compensate either party for the other party's noncompliance with court rules. In seeking an award of costs under this paragraph, counsel must submit a statement showing the cost of the supplemental statement of the case and facts and a certificate of counsel showing the amount of time that was devoted to the preparation of the supplement.(B) If the case has not yet been submitted to the court for decision, an appellant may file a motion to supplement the brief or to file a substituted brief. Subject to the court's discretion, the court will routinely grant such a motion and give the appellant fifteen days within which to file the supplemental or substituted brief. If the appellee has already filed its brief, upon the filing of appellant's supplemental or substituted brief, the appellee will be afforded an opportunity to revise or supplement its brief, at the expense of the appellant or the appellant's counsel, as the court may, upon motion, direct.(C) Regardless of whether the appellee has called attention to deficiencies in the appellant's brief, the Court may address the question at any time. If the Court finds the brief to be deficient such that the Court cannot reach the merits of the case, or such as to cause an unreasonable or unjust delay in the disposition of the appeal, the Court will notify the appellant that he or she will be afforded an opportunity to cure any deficiencies, and that he or she has fifteen days within which to file a substituted brief, at his or her own expense. Upon the filing of such a substituted brief by the appellant, the appellee will be afforded an opportunity to revise the appellee's brief, at the expense of the appellant or the appellant's counsel, as the Court may direct. If after the opportunity to cure the deficiencies, the appellant fails to file a complying brief within the prescribed time, the judgment or decree may be affirmed or the appeal dismissed for noncompliance with the Rule.(D) If the appellate court determines that deficiencies or omissions in the brief need to be corrected, but complete rebriefing is not needed, then the court will order the appellant to file a supplemental brief within seven calendar days to provide the additional information from the record to the members of the appellate court (E) After the opportunity to cure deficiencies has been afforded, attorneys who fail to comply with the requirements of this rule may be referred to the Office of Professional Conduct and may be subject to any of the following: (i) contempt, (ii) suspension of the privilege to practice before the Supreme Court or Court of Appeals for a specified time or until the attorney can demonstrate a satisfactory knowledge of the rules, or (iii) imposition of any of the sanctions listed in Rule 11(c) of the Rules of Appellate Procedure-Civil.(h)Continuances and extensions of time.(1) The Clerk or a deputy clerk may extend the due date of any brief by seven (7) calendar days upon oral or electronically filed request. The party requesting a Clerk's extension must confirm the extension by sending a letter, by electronic filing, immediately to the Clerk or the deputy clerk with a copy to all counsel of record and any pro se party. If such an extension is granted, no further extension shall be granted except by the Clerk for compliance with these Rules as provided in Rule 4-2(c) or by the Court upon a written motion showing good cause.(2) Stipulations of counsel for continuances will not be recognized. Any request for an extension of time (except in (g)(1) and (h)(1)) for the filing of any brief must be made by a written motion, addressed to the Court, setting forth the facts supporting the request. Counsel who delay the filing of such a motion until it is too late for the brief to be filed if the motion is denied, do so at their own risk.(i)Briefs not required in unemployment compensation cases. Unemployment compensation cases appealed from the Arkansas Board of Review may be submitted to the Court of Appeals for decision as soon as the transcript is filed, unless notice of intent to file a brief for the appellant is made with the Clerk prior to the filing of the transcript.Ark. R. Sup. Ct. & Ct. App. 4-4
Amended March 13, 2014, effective 7/1/2014; amended December 7, 2017, effective 1/1/2018; amended and effective 12/17/2020.Addition to Reporter's Notes, 2014 Amendment: Rules 4-1 and 4-4 both required the filing on appeal of nine copies of redacted briefs and nine copies of unredacted briefs, for a total of eighteen copies. However, only one copy of the redacted brief need be filed-for public viewing-while 17 copies of the unredacted briefs should be filed for use by the courts and court personnel. Rules 4-1 and 4-4 are amended accordingly. The appellate court practice has been that after a case has been submitted to the court for decision, the court will not consider motions to dismiss because of settlement of the litigation or notice of settlement. The amendment to Rule 4-4(e) conforms the rule to the practice.