For the past few years, the Rules and Practice Guides section of this blog contained the following disclaimer regarding the N.C. Rules of Appellate Procedure: “WARNING: outdated–incorporates amendments through 2 July 2009 only.  See links to post-2009 amendments below.”  To access the Supreme Court’s “official” Appellate Rules, you had to open four different PDFs on the Appellate Reporter’s website. Unknowingly filing a reply brief or Rule 9(d) Documentary Exhibit under the old rules tripped up more than a few appellate practitioners.

In an effort to make the Appellate Rules a bit more user friendly, the Supreme Court recently combined the 2009 Appellate Rules and three post-2009 amendments into a single PDF.  While incorporation of the amendments into the actual text of the affected Appellate Rules is likely a future project, the Supreme Court’s updated Appellate Rules now contains a prominent disclaimer that the three amendments are located at the end of the document.

Particularly helpful for practitioners, the Appellate Rules’ Table of Contents is now internally linked to the Appellate Rules. Clicking on a specific rule, appendix, or amendment in the Table of Contents jumps to that particular provision. Conversely, you can jump from within the text of the Appellate Rules to the Table of Contents by clicking on each rule or article heading.  These changes will be especially useful when viewing the Appellate Rules on a smartphone or tablet.  (Because everyone keeps a copy on the Appellate Rules on their mobile device-right!?!).

Pure coincidence, but this blog recently received its own facelift to make it more mobile friendly.  Love it or hate it?  Let us know your thoughts about both facelifts in the comments below!  If you have a “wish” list for future updates, please share those as well!

–Beth Scherer