Rule 11 - Direct Appellate Review(a) Application; When Filed; Grounds. An appeal within the concurrent appellate jurisdiction of the Appeals Court and Supreme Judicial Court shall be docketed in the Appeals Court before a party may apply to the Supreme Judicial Court for direct appellate review. Within 21 days after the docketing of an appeal in the Appeals Court, any party to the case (or 2 or more parties jointly) may apply in writing to the Supreme Judicial Court for direct appellate review, provided the questions presented by the appeal are (1) questions of first impression or novel questions of law which should be submitted for final determination to the Supreme Judicial Court; (2) questions of law concerning the Constitution of the Commonwealth or questions concerning the Constitution of the United States which have been raised in a court of the Commonwealth; or (3) questions of such public interest that justice requires a final determination by the full Supreme Judicial Court. (b) Contents of Application; Form. The application for direct appellate review shall contain, in the following order: (1) a request for direct appellate review; (2) a statement of prior proceedings in the case; (3) a short statement of facts relevant to the appeal; (4) a statement of the issues of law raised by the appeal, together with a statement indicating whether the issues were raised and properly preserved in the lower court; (5) a brief argument thereon (consisting of not more than either 10 pages of text in monospaced font or 2,000 words in proportional font, as defined in Rule 20(a)(4)(B) ) including appropriate authorities, in support of the applicant's position on such issues; and (6) a statement of reasons why direct appellate review is appropriate. A copy of the docket entries shall be appended to the application. The applicant shall also append a copy of any written decision, memorandum, findings, rulings, or report of the lower court relevant to the appeal. The application shall comply with the requirements of Rule 20(a), and shall contain a certification of such compliance, including a statement of how compliance with the foregoing length limit was ascertained, as specified in Rule 16(k).(c) Response; Form. Within 14 days after the filing of the application, any other party to the case may, but need not, file and serve a response thereto (consisting of not more than either 10 pages of text in monospace font or 2,000 words in proportional font, as defined in Rule 20(a)(4)(B) ) setting forth reasons why the application should or should not be granted. The response shall not restate matters described in Rule 11(b)(2) and (3) unless the party is dissatisfied with the statement thereof contained in the application. The response shall comply with the requirements of Rule 20(a), and shall contain a certification of such compliance, including a statement of how compliance with the foregoing length limit was ascertained, as specified in Rule 16(k). A response may be filed in a different form as permitted by the court.(d) Filing; Service. One copy of the application and of each response shall be filed in the office of the clerk of the full Supreme Judicial Court. Filing and service of the application and of any response shall comply with Rule 13.(e) Effect of Application Upon Appeal. The filing of an application for direct appellate review shall not extend the time for filing briefs or doing any other act required to be done under these rules.(f) Vote of Direct Appellate Review; Certification. If any 2 justices of the Supreme Judicial Court vote for direct appellate review, or if a majority of the justices of the Appeals Court shall certify that direct appellate review is in the public interest, an order allowing the application (or transferring the appeal sua sponte) or the certificate, as the case may be, shall be transmitted to the clerk of the Appeals Court with notice to the lower court. The clerk of the Appeals Court shall forthwith transmit to the clerk of the full Supreme Judicial Court all documents filed in the case.(g) Cases Transferred for Direct Review; Time for Serving and Filing Briefs. In any appeal transferred to the full Supreme Judicial Court from the Appeals Court: (1) If at the time of transfer all parties have served and filed briefs in the Appeals Court, no further briefs may be filed by the parties except that a reply brief may be served and filed on or before the last date allowable had the case not been transferred, or within 14 days after the date on which the appeal is docketed in the full Supreme Judicial Court, whichever is later.(2) If at the time of transfer only the appellant's brief has been served and filed in the Appeals Court the appellant may, but need not, serve and file an amended brief within 21 days after the date on which the appeal is docketed in the full Supreme Judicial Court. The appellee shall serve and file a brief within 30 days after service of any amended brief of the appellant, or within 50 days after the date on which the appeal is docketed in the full Supreme Judicial Court, whichever is later.(3) Service and filing of a reply brief shall comply with Rule 19.(4) If at the time of transfer to the full Supreme Judicial Court no party to the appeal has served or filed a brief, the appellant shall serve and file a brief within 21 days after the date on which the appeal is docketed in the full Supreme Judicial Court or within 40 days after the date on which the appeal was docketed in the Appeals Court, whichever is later.Amended May 15, 1979, effective 7/1/1979; amended effective 7/1/1991;4/14/1995;1/29/1996; amended October 30, 1997, effective 1/1/1998; June 26, 2002, effective 9/3/2002; amended October 31, 2018, effective 3/1/2019.