Beginning September 1, 2018 all appellate cases in Indiana must be initiated via e-filing. Here's part of the information you need to prepare for that:
When you are assembling a Notice of Appeal or Motion for Interlocutory Appeal, there are several documents that should be combined into a single PDF file to initiate the appeal. They are:
- The Notice of Appeal or Motion for Interlocutory Appeal.
- A copy of the judgment or order being appealed.
- If you are a public defender, your proof of appointment.
- If this is an interlocutory appeal, a copy of the order accepting jurisdiction.
- Any other required documents.
Number 5 sounds a bit open-ended, but the underlying concept here is simply that every document that you would be required to file when initiating the appeal conventionally should be combined into a single PDF file when e-filing. This will then be filed as a single lead document. This differs significantly from the process for trial courts, where each document must be a separate PDF file.
From a practical standpoint, this means that if you don't already have software for editing PDF files, it's time to purchase something so you can assemble documents from multiple sources into a single PDF file. We've been working with attorneys who are assembling PDF files for a couple of years now, and here are the PDF editors we've heard good things about:
Keep an eye out for an upcoming post regarding how to handle electronic service for your notice of appeal.
