When must I serve the initial joint appendix designation?

Verify entry of the order granting certiorari, noting probable jurisdiction or postponing jurisdiction.

Determine whether the parties agreed appendix contents. Rule 26.2 gives this service requirement in the absence of agreement.

Check for Clerk-approved deferral. Rule 26.4 changes when designations occur, rather than applying this ordinary ten-day order count.

1. Use the qualifying order’s entry date. Confirm no contents agreement and no approved deferred method.
2. Exclude the established trigger day.
3. Count 10 calendar days.
4. Apply Rule 30.1 final-day adjustment.
5. Complete the required service by that date.

Supreme Court Rule 30.1 excludes the trigger day and includes every intermediate calendar day. For periods shorter than seven days it excludes intermediate closed days. Each fixed period reviewed here is at least seven days.

Serve the designation on the respondent or appellee within the computed period. Filing an appendix later does not retroactively prove timely designation service.

If the final day is Saturday, Sunday, a federal legal holiday listed in 5 U.S.C. 6103 or a Court-building closure ordered by the Court or Chief Justice, Rule 30.1 continues the period to the next day that is none of those. Check actual Court closure orders. The calculator does not infer additional closures.

Fictitious example

Fictitious entry of a certiorari grant on August 24, 2026. Contents are not agreed and the ordinary appendix method applies. Exclude the established trigger day, August 24, 2026. Counting 10 calendar days reaches September 3, 2026. The final day is an open weekday.

Fictitious facts and dates. No different schedule, additional Court closure or extension is assumed.

Contents agreement

Rule 26.2 encourages agreement. The ordinary designation requirement applies in the absence of agreement.

Approved deferred method

Under Rule 26.4, each party designates when its brief is served. A requested but unapproved deferral does not establish that method.

Necessary record portions

Counsel should designate only materials the Court should examine. A party may refer to relevant record portions not reproduced in the appendix.

Changed time limits

Rule 26.9 permits specified good-cause changes. Use the actual direction rather than assuming a pending request modifies the ten days.

• The calculator counts the encoded default period after an established trigger. It does not determine jurisdiction, party alignment or the effect of a particular order.
• Check the Court’s docket, actual directions and proof of the required act.

• Confirm no agreement resolves the appendix contents.
• Verify the qualifying order’s entry.
• Check approved deferral and actual changes under Rule 26.9.
• Designate the relevant record portions and avoid unnecessary materials.
• Serve the respondent or appellee and preserve effective-service evidence.
• Complete the designation’s required service on the specified opposing party. Rule 29.3 governs service methods. Electronic Court submission does not itself transmit a document to other parties under Rule 29.7. A filed document alone does not prove service.
• Preserve evidence of the required recipients and actual delivery or service.