US · rules
4th Cir. R. 30(b)
Appendix Contents; Pagination; Number of Copies
(1) Required Contents: In designating or agreeing upon the contents of the appendix, and in
assembling the appendix, the parties should avoid unnecessary duplication of materials. The
appellee's designation should only include those additional parts of the record to which it
wishes to direct the Court's attention that have not already been designated by the appellant.
The use of a selectively abridged record allows the judges to refer easily to relevant parts
of the record and saves the parties the considerable expense of reproducing the entire
record. Although there is no limit on the length of the appendix except as provided in Local
Rule 32(a), it is unnecessary to include everything in the appendix. The appendix should,
however, contain the final order or order appealed from, the complaint or petition, as finally
amended (civil appeals) or indictment (criminal appeals), as well as all other parts of the
record which are vital to the understanding of the basic issues on appeal. Although the
entire record is available to the Court should it believe that additional portions are
important to a full understanding of the issues, citation to portions of the record not included
in the appendix is not favored.
(2) Table of Contents; Witness Names and Type of Examination: The table of contents to the
appendix should be sufficiently detailed to be helpful to the Court. Referring to the transcript
of a trial under a single reference to "proceeding" or "trial transcript" is not sufficient.
When the testimony of a witness is included in the appendix, the testimony should be clearly
identified in the table of contents, beneath the proceeding in which it occurred. The name of
the testifying witness and the type of examination (e.g., direct, cross, redirect, or recross)
should also be clearly indicated at the top of each page of the appendix where the witness's
testimony appears. Exhibits should be listed in the table of contents by number or letter and
by name or brief description.
(3) Organization. Volume 1 of the Joint Appendix shall include all decisions being appealed,
reviewed, or collaterally challenged, whether oral or written, final or interim. Unless the
entire Joint Appendix will be submitted in a single volume, Volume 1 should not include any
other material. Volume 1 will ordinarily include: the judgment or interlocutory order
appealed from; any other order or ruling sought to be reviewed; the transcript of any oral
ruling; the entire sentencing transcript in a sentencing appeal; and any relevant state court
decision in a habeas proceeding. Volume 1 should be organized chronologically, and
documents in Volume 1 should not be duplicated in later volumes. Later volumes should be
organized chronologically. Single volume joint appendixes should begin with the documents
enumerated in this rule, followed by all other documents in chronological order.
(4) Sentencing Guideline Appeals: In all criminal appeals seeking review of the application of
the sentencing guidelines, appellant shall include the sentencing hearing transcript and
presentence report in the appendix. The presentence report must be included in a separate
sealed volume, stamped "SEALED" on the volume itself and on the envelope containing it,
and be accompanied by a certificate stating that the volume contains sealed material. In
criminal cases in which presentence reports are being filed for multiple defendants, each
presentence report must be placed in a separate, sealed volume that is served only on
counsel for the United States and for the defendant who is the subject of the report.
03/23/2026
(5) Pagination: The pages of a joint or supplemental appendix must be numbered using the
automated Bates numbering feature of the software used to convert the document to PDF and
the format required by the Fourth Circuit Appendix Pagination & Brief Citation Guide.
(6) Number of Copies:
(A) Filing: Unless otherwise directed by the Court, one paper copy and one electronic copy
of any joint, sealed, or supplemental appendix must be filed. The Court will order the
filing of additional paper copies for oral argument or if otherwise needed by the Court.
(B) Service: If the electronic appendix is served on counsel and on any party not represented
by counsel, service of the paper appendix is not required. One paper copy of any sealed
appendix volume must be served on lead counsel for each party separately represented
who is authorized to have access to the sealed volume and on any party not represented
by counsel who is authorized to have access to the sealed volume.
Provenance
- Source
- uscourts.gov
- Retrieved
- 2026-09-18
- Edition
- 2026-09-18
- Content hash
7a2a2ce0d1c48157c3bfce84b92b3171b62a7a9ec56131adef4faa9c66e668bf
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