Rule 18 - Appendix to the Briefs: Contents, Cost, Filing, and Service(a) Duty of Appellant to Prepare and File; Content of Appendix. The appellant shall prepare and file an appendix to the briefs which shall be separately bound. The parties are cautioned that, under Rule 9, the lower court does not ordinarily transmit the entire record to the appellate court. Therefore, the appendix or appendices must include the items specified in this rule. (1) Requirements in Civil and Criminal Cases. (A) The appendix shall contain, in the order hereinafter provided: (i) a cover that conforms substantially to Rules 20(a)(5)(A) and (a)(6).(ii) a table of contents, listing the parts of the record reproduced therein, and including a detailed listing of exhibits, affidavits, and other documents associated with those parts, with references to the pages of the appendix at which each begins;(iii) the docket entries in the lower court proceedings;(iv) any order of impoundment or confidentiality from the lower court; and(v) in chronological order of filing in the lower court: (a) any parts of the record relied upon in the brief, and in a criminal case, a copy of the complaint or indictment;(b) any document, or portion thereof, filed in the case relating to an issue which is to be argued on appeal;(c) any findings or memorandum of decision or order by the lower court pertinent to an issue on appeal, including a typed version of any pertinent handwritten or oral endorsement, notation, findings, or order made by the lower court;(d) the judgment, decree, order, or adjudication in question; and(e) the notice(s) of appeal.(B) Except where they have independent relevance, memoranda of law in the lower court should not be included in the appendix.(C) The first volume of a multi-volume appendix shall include a complete table of contents referencing all volumes of the appendix, and each individual volume shall include a table of contents for that volume.(D) Parties must include in the appendix all portions of the record that are relied upon in the brief or that relate to an issue on appeal, except portions of the record subject to a motion for transmission pursuant to Rule 18(a) (1) (G). The appellate court may decline to permit the parties to refer to portions of the record omitted from the appendix unless a motion for transmission of those portions of the record is filed in the appellate court. The fact that portions of the record are not included in the appendix or subject to a motion for transmission shall not prevent the appellate court from relying on such portions of the record.(E) When an appendix contains materials from more than 1 lower court case, the table of contents shall clearly indicate, by reference to the lower court docket number, the case in which each paper was filed and by whom it was filed.(F) Any reproduction of an exhibit in an appendix shall be of high quality to ensure a legible and accurate representation of the exhibit, including color if color is relevant. A color photograph marked or admitted as an exhibit in the lower court and included in the appendix must be reproduced in color. Lower court color-coded forms need not be reproduced in color.(G) If certain portions of the record cannot or should not be reproduced or transmitted, such as nonreproducible physical evidence or material the possession, transmission, or dissemination of which may constitute a violation of criminal law or a court order, the proponent shall file in the appellate court a motion for transmittal of such portions of the record at the time of the filing of the proponent's brief. A placeholder notation may be included in the appendix to reference the portions of the record subject to the motion for transmission.(2) Additional Requirements in a Criminal Case.(A) The appellee in a criminal case must include any part of the record relied on by the appellee not otherwise included in the appellant's appendix or contained in the transcript.(B) An appendix may contain relevant excerpts of the transcript, but should not duplicate the entire transcript transmitted from the lower court to the appellate court.(b) Determination of Contents of Appendix in Civil Cases; Cost of Producing; Supplemental Appendix. (1) The parties are encouraged to agree as to the contents of the appendix. In the absence of agreement, the appellant shall, not later than 14 days after receiving from the clerk of the lower court the notice of assembly of the record, serve on the appellee a designation of the parts of the record which the appellant intends to include in the appendix and a statement of the issues which the appellant intends to present for review. If the appellee deems it necessary to direct the particular attention of the court to parts of the record not designated by the appellant, the appellee shall, within 14 days after receipt of the designation, serve upon the appellant a designation of those parts. The parties shall not engage in unnecessary designation and may refer to parts of the record not included in the appendix if permitted by the appellate court or a single justice pursuant to the provisions of Rule 18(a)(1)(D). However, this does not affect the responsibility of the parties to include materials necessary to their appeal, including exhibits, in the appendix.(2) Where a party designates as part of the record any matter that has been impounded or has been made confidential by statute, rule, or order, the designation shall so state.(3) Unless the parties otherwise agree, the cost of producing the appendix shall initially be paid by the appellant, but if the appellant considers that parts of the record designated by the appellee for inclusion are unnecessary for the determination of the issues presented the appellant may so advise the appellee and the appellee shall advance the cost of including such parts. In the event of a dispute as to the parts to be included or the cost advance required to include them, the matter shall be settled by the lower court on motion and notice. The cost of producing the appendix shall be taxed as costs in the case, but if either party shall cause matters to be included in the appendix unnecessarily the court may impose the cost of producing such parts on the party.(4) Depending on the issues raised on appeal and the applicable standards of review, it may be necessary for the party filing the appendix to reproduce the entire transcript of the relevant lower court proceedings. Failure to reproduce the entire transcript may result in waiver of the issue. If the party does not reproduce a transcript of the entire proceedings, the party shall, preceding each portion of transcript reproduced, insert a concise statement identifying: (A) the witness whose testimony is being reproduced;(B) the party originally calling the witness;(C) the party questioning the witness;(D) the classification of the witness's examination (direct, cross, or other); and(E) the transcript volume and page number from which the reproduced testimony is derived.(5) Supplemental Appendix in a Civil Case. Except with leave of the appellate court or a single justice granted on motion, an appellee or cross-appellee in a civil case shall not file a supplemental appendix. Where such leave is granted, the appendix shall (A) be filed and served with the brief pursuant to Rules 18(f) and 19, unless otherwise ordered;(B) include only materials that are part of the record;(C) not generally include materials already in the appellant's appendix, unless necessary for context; and(D) be in the form prescribed by Rules 18(a)(1) and 20(a)(5) and (a)(6).(c) Reproduction of Transcripts in Civil Cases. In a civil case, transcripts or portions thereof shall be reproduced for inclusion in the appendix consistent with Rule 18(b)(4). (d) Reproduction of Impounded Materials. If the entire case has been impounded, the cover of the appendix shall clearly indicate that the appendix is impounded. If the entire case has not been impounded, a separate appendix volume shall be filed containing the impounded material and a copy of any lower court order(s) impounding the material, and the cover thereof shall clearly indicate that it contains impounded material.(e) Reproduction of electronic audio or audiovisual exhibit. At the time of filing an appendix containing a reproduction of an electronic audio or audio-visual exhibit that was part of the lower court record, the filing party shall file a written notice with the clerk, with a copy of the notice sent to all parties, so indicating the inclusion of such reproduction, and specifying the form in which it is reproduced.(f) Filing and Service. Any appendix, including exhibits and transcripts or portions thereof in a civil case, shall be filed and served with the brief in accordance with Rule 19.(g) Amendment of Appendix. On motion for good cause, the court may grant leave for a party to file an amended appendix volume. The motion shall describe the nature and reason for the amendment. The party shall file with the motion the amended appendix volume marked as such on the front page or cover. Except as the court otherwise orders, the filing of an amended appendix volume has no effect on any filing deadlines.Amended effective 2/24/1975, amended June 2, 1976, effective 7/1/1976; May 15, 1979, effective 7/1/1979; April 25, 1984, effective 7/1/1984; November 17, 1986, effective 1/1/1987, amended effective 2/1/1991; May 1, 1994; amended June 11, 1997, effective 7/1/1997; October 1, 1998, effective 11/2/1998; amended October 31, 2018, effective 3/1/2019; amended March 5, 2020, effective 4/1/2020; amended March 2, 2023, effective 5/1/2023.