An Appellant is required, for example, to include in his Addendum the motions and briefs supporting and opposing summary judgment. See Snowden v. JRE Investments, Inc., 2010 Ark. 80, — S.W.3d — (February 18, 2010) (per curiam).  In an appeal from a summary judgment decision, those motions will be “essential to an understanding of the case.” See Snowden, supra; see also  Ark. Sup. Ct. R. 4-2(a)(8).

Arkansas Supreme Court Rule 4-2(a)(8) provides the following concerning the Appellant’s Addendum:

 The appellant’s brief shall contain an addendum after the signature and certificate of service. The addendum shall contain true and legible copies of the non- transcript documents in the record on appeal that are essential for the appellate court to confirm its jurisdiction, to understand the case, and to decide the issues on appeal. The addendum shall not merely reproduce the entire record of trial court filings, nor shall it contain any document or material that is not in the record.

While the rule provides that not every document from the record of trial court filings should be included in the Appellant’s Addendum, it is necessary to include all documents in the record “that are essential for the appellate court to confirm its jurisdiction, to understand the case, and to decide the issues on appeal.” Ark. Sup. Ct. R. 4-2(a)(8).

The multiple proposed changes to the Arkansas Rules of Civil Procedure, the Arkansas Rules of the Supreme Court and the Court of Appeals, and the Arkansas Rules of Appellate Procedure–Civil are outlined in the Court’s per curiam order. 

Comments concerning the suggested rule changes must be submitted in writing to the Supreme Court Clerk’s office before March 31, 2010.

A special election will be held later this year to determine who will complete Justice Imber’s term, which expires in 2014.  Currently, the candidates for Position 6 are: (1) Judge Tim Fox; (2) Judge Karen Baker; and (3) Evelyn Moorehead.

The Court held that “the denial of a motion to intervene in a dependency-neglect matter is not governed by Rule 6-9,” but is instead governed by Rule 2(a)(2).

The determination of which rule applied significantly impacted that case where the appellants had failed to sign the notice of appeal along with their attorney.  That is because Rule 6-9(b)(1)(B) provides that “[t]he notice of appeal and designation of record shall be signed by the appellant, if an adult, and appellant’s counsel.”  Arkansas Rules of Civil Procedure–Civil 2(a)(2), however, includes no such signature requirement for the appellants.

The Arkansas Supreme Court concluded that because the appeal was “governed by Rule 2(a)(2), the [appellants'] failure to sign the notice of appeal was not a fatal defect[.]“

Posted in Appellate Practice, Appellate Practice News, Appellate Practice Tips, Arkansas Appellate Court News, Arkansas Civil Appeals ]]> http://arkansasappeals.com/2009/12/03/denial-of-motion-to-intervene-in-a-dependency-neglect-matter-is-not-governed-by-ark-sup-ct-r-6-9/feed/ 0 Tasha C. Taylor http://arkansasappeals.com/2009/12/03/failure-to-sign-complaint-does-not-render-service-of-process-defective/ http://arkansasappeals.com/2009/12/03/failure-to-sign-complaint-does-not-render-service-of-process-defective/#comments Thu, 03 Dec 2009 18:30:40 +0000 Tasha C. Taylor http://arkansasappeals.com/?p=217 ]]> The Arkansas Supreme Court has recently held that there is no signature requirement in Rule 4 of the Arkansas Rules of Civil Procedure that would require a complaint to be signed. See Jones v. Turner, 2009 Ark. 545 (Nov. 5, 2009).  As such, an unsigned complaint served with  proper summons does not render service of process defective.  For more analysis of this decision, visit the Downtown Lawyer legal blog.

Posted in Appellate Practice, Appellate Practice News, Appellate Practice Tips, Arkansas Civil Appeals, Arkansas Court Rules ]]> http://arkansasappeals.com/2009/12/03/failure-to-sign-complaint-does-not-render-service-of-process-defective/feed/ 0 Tasha C. Taylor