Eleventh Circuit Rules and IOP Changes

Effective today, the Eleventh Circuit has deleted one local rule, clarified another, added a third, and given itself a new procedure for citation to materials on the Internet. The completely revised rules are available online (.pdf).

New 11th Cir. R. 31-6 explains when newly-retained counsel must file a replacement brief, and when counsel must receive leave of court to file a replacement brief.

Revised 11th Cir. R. 41-3 clarifies that when an order dismissing an appeal is published, the time for issuance of the mandate is governed by FRAP 41(b).

Former 11th Cir. R. 40-4 regarding Review of Order Dismissing Appeal for Lack of Jurisdiction has been rescined as “no longer necessary.”

Most interesting to me is the change to IOP 10 to FRAP 36. In order to ensure a complete record of the case, if a judge cites to an internet source in an opinion, he or she must print out the web page for the clerk’s file, and indicate in the opinion that the materials are available in the court file. While it is not mandetory for litigants to follow this practice, it is always a good idea to keep a copy of whatever you are citing to in your brief, and not rely on the website to always be there. More importantly, this makes me wonder about the Circuit’s views on citation to internet sources for items that are outside of the appellate record.