United States · Federal appellate briefing
When must the cross-appeal appellant serve and file its response and reply brief?
FRAP 28.1(f)(3) requires the appellant’s response and reply brief to be served and filed within thirty days after service of the appellee’s principal and response brief. Rule 28.1(c)(3) combines both acts in the same brief. This is a thirty-day base, distinct from the ordinary Rule 31 reply. Rule 26(c) may add days that the isolated preset does not calculate.
- Period
- Thirty-day service-based default, subject to Rule 26(c) and actual directions
- Trigger
- Service of the designated appellee’s principal and response brief under Rule 28.1
- Rule
- FRAP 28.1(f)(3)
December 1, 2025 compilation
Source guide · No automated date
Establish the actual briefing and service conditions
The isolated thirty-day combined response-and-reply preset omits the possible Rule 26(c) addition. No computed date or paid calculation record is published.
FRAP 28.1(f)(3)What lawyers say
5.0“The platform is really easy to use.”
Michael B.Employment litigation attorney · California
“The Evidence Record saved us time with our insurance on bankruptcy matters.”
MariaBankruptcy and commercial attorney · London, UK
“The most up-to-date service we could find.”
Li ChenArbitration practitioner · Singapore
Which filing or service starts this briefing stage?
Establish the actual designated appellant role.
Identify service of the appellee’s combined principal and response brief.
Preserve actual service and delivery evidence.
Prepare the combined response and reply and read actual directions.
FRAP 28.1(f)(3)Why is no combined deadline calculated?
- Identify the actual procedure and required actor.
- Read the controlling event, service or stay evidence.
- Apply applicable additions, coupled limits and actual directions.
- Complete the required acts and preserve proof.
First compute the base period under FRAP 26(a), excluding the service day and counting every calendar day, with final-day rollover. When the paper was neither served electronically nor delivered on the date stated in the proof of service, Rule 26(c) adds three days after that base otherwise expires. Apply final-day rollover to the added period. The isolated preset does not calculate that addition.
Rule 26(a)(6) includes the listed federal holidays and days declared holidays by the President or Congress. For periods after an event, it also includes holidays declared by the state of the district court that rendered the challenged judgment or order, or the circuit clerk’s principal office. Establish the actual applicable calendar and inaccessibility. The national preset does not infer additional state holidays or granted relief.
FRAP 26(a)(4)–(6), (b) and (c)Why is no automated date shown?
The isolated thirty-day combined response-and-reply preset omits the possible Rule 26(c) addition. No computed date or paid calculation record is published.
Which qualifications affect the briefing stage?
- Combined response and reply
- Rule 28.1(c)(3) requires response to the cross-appeal principal brief and reply to the principal-appeal response in the same brief.
- Thirty-day base
- Rule 28.1(f)(3) states thirty days after service. Do not substitute the ordinary Rule 31 twenty-one-day reply period.
- Separate final reply
- Rule 28.1(f)(4) separately addresses the appellee’s final reply and oral-argument backstop. That later procedure is not calculated here.
- Service and directions
- Actual service and delivery determine any Rule 26(c) addition. Actual local instructions and grants remain separate.
- This guide does not read local rules or orders, infer service or delivery, determine an appeal’s merits or grant relief.
- Confirm actual briefing roles, separate service and current circuit requirements before using a national default.
What should I check before completing this act?
Common questions
Briefing roles, events and service
Is this combined response and reply due under the ordinary twenty-one-day rule?
Rule 28.1(f)(3) states a thirty-day service-based base for this combined stage, subject to applicable additions and directions.
FRAP 28.1(f)Does service of the original appellant principal brief start this stage?
No. Rule 28.1(f)(3) starts after service of the appellee’s principal and response brief.
FRAP 28.1(f)Can the response and reply be separated into two briefs under this provision?
Rule 28.1(c)(3) requires the two acts in the same brief.
FRAP 28.1(a)–(c)Official sources and scope
Provisions used (9)
| Provision | Purpose |
|---|---|
| FRAP 28.1(f)(3) | This stage’s required acts, timing and qualifications |
| FRAP 31(a)(1)–(2) | Distinct national procedure and scope |
| FRAP 28.1(a)–(c) | Distinct national procedure and scope |
| FRAP 28.1(f) | Distinct national procedure and scope |
| FRAP 12(c) | Distinct national procedure and scope |
| FRAP 26(a) | Calendar counting and inaccessibility |
| FRAP 26(a)(4)–(6), (b) and (c) | Filing boundary, holidays, extensions and service additions |
| FRAP 25(a) | Filing channels and brief dispatch exception |
| FRAP 25(b)–(d) | Separate service and proof |