For Louisiana practitioners

The Louisiana Fourth Circuit Court of Appeal has made a welcome change to its rules, effective January 1, 2009, to cut down the volume of paper filed with the clerk. Here are the changes:

• In civil appeals, a party must file an original and 4 copies of the brief. (The old rule was 7 copies.)
• In criminal appeals, a party must file an original and 2 copies of the brief. (Again, the old rule was 7 copies.)
• A party seeking a writ of any kind must file an original and 1 copy of the writ application with all exhibits. (The old rule was original plus 3 copies.)

In addition, the court will e-mail its oral-argument dockets to counsel of record at least 30 days before the date fixed for argument. If the court has no e-mail address for a lawyer, then it will fax the docket to that lawyer. The court will send the docket by certified mail to unrepresented parties.

Please note that these changes apply to the Louisiana Fourth Circuit only. For other circuits, check the Uniform Rules and that court’s local rules.