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Welcome to the United States Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit

Honorable Joel F. Dubina, Chief Judge

John Ley, Clerk of Court

Court Address:
56 Forsyth St. N.W.
Atlanta, Georgia 30303

Clerk's Office Main Phone: (404) 335-6100

Accessibility Information:
This web page is designed as an accessible page for those with special requirements for viewing internet content. We have provided this text only page so that those with text readers, or the need for increased font sizes etc., may view information about the court more easily. Please contact the webmaster if you have any questions, comments, or difficulty viewing this page, or the information included here.

Many of our documents are provided in .PDF format, and all links to such documents will be labeled accordingly. If you need the Adobe Acrobat Reader, please download it from the Adobe site. Windows, Macintosh, UNIX, and other platforms are available for download there.



General Links:
About the Court
Rules and Addenda (.PDF files)
Opinions (.PDF files)
EnBanc Issues (.PDF files)
Mediation
Documents (.PDF files)
Court Offices
Attorney Admissions
Attorney Update Form
Human Resources
Related Links
11th Circuit Library

Most Requested Links:
Pacer (offsite link - opens in new window)
Court Directory
Clerk's Office
Opinion Search(.PDF files)
Application for Admission to the Bar (.PDF file)
Appearance of Counsel Form (.PDF file)
Fee Schedule
Briefing and Filing Instructions (.PDF files)
Web-Based CIP and Brief Uploading
Judge Elbert P. Tuttle

Recent Updates:
FRAP, 11th Circuit Rules and IOP (Eff. December 1, 2011)
Instructions for Completing CJA 20 Voucher (October 2011)
Civil Appeals Jurisdiction Checklist (March 2011)
Criminal Appeals Jurisdiction Checklist (March 2011)
Pattern Jury Instructions (Criminal) 2010 (.pdf format)
Pattern Jury Instructions (Civil) 2005 (.pdf format)

About the Court
Use the links below to learn more about the Eleventh Circuit

About the Court
Active Judges
Senior Judges
Court Directory
Clerks Office Directory
Business Hours
Maps and Addresses
Fee Schedule
Where to send Case Filings
History of the Court of Appeals
Judge Elbert P. Tuttle
Eleventh Circuit Historical Society

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Established by Congress in 1981, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Judicial Circuit has jurisdiction over federal cases originating in the states of Alabama, Florida and Georgia. The circuit includes nine district court's with each state divided into Northern, Middle and Southern Districts.

In terms of cases filed and terminated by three-judge panels, the court is the busiest federal appellate court in the United States with its twelve authorized judgeships.

Approximately three-fourths of the court's cases are decided on the briefs submitted by the parties, while the remaining cases include oral argument. Oral arguments are held in the Elbert P. Tuttle United States Court of Appeals Building in Atlanta, Georgia and are open to the public. Oral arguments are also held in Florida (Jacksonville and Miami), and Alabama (Montgomery).

Maps and directions to all Eleventh Circuit buildings are available on this web site.

For additional information, contact the Clerk's Office at 56 Forsyth Street N.W., Atlanta, GA 30303. Phone: (404) 335-6100.

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Active Judges

Judge Joel F. Dubina - Chief Judge
U.S. Circuit Judge
United States Court of Appeals
Eleventh Circuit
Born: Elkhart, Indiana
Date of Appointment: October 1, 1990
Entered on Duty: October 5, 1990
Chief Judge: June 1, 2009 - Present
Education:
University of Alabama, B.S., 1970; Cumberland School of Law, Samford University, J.D., 1973.
Previous Employment:
Private practice, 1974-1983; U.S. Magistrate, 1983-1986; U.S. District Judge, Middle District of Alabama, 1986-1990.
Committee Appointments/Professional Organizations:
Federal Judges Association; Federal bar Association; Alabama Bar Association; American Bar Association; Montgomery County Bar Association; Eleventh Circuit and Supreme Court Historical Societies; Member, Appellate Court Advisory Committee and Joint Advisory council of the Administrative Office, U.S. Courts

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Judge Gerald Bard Tjoflat
U.S. Circuit Judge
United States Court of Appeals
Eleventh Circuit
Born: Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Date of Appointment: November 21, 1975
Entered on Duty: December 12, 1975
Chief Judge: October 1, 1989 - September 20, 1996
Education:
University of Virginia; University of Cincinnati; Duke University School of Law, LL.B., 1957
Previous Employment:
Judge, Circuit Court, Fourth Judicial Circuit of Florida, 1968-1970; U.S. District Court, Middle District of Florida, 1970-1975; Judge, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, 1975-1981
Committee Appointments/Professional Organizations:
Judicial Conference of the U.S., 1989-present; Chairman, Judicial Conference Committee on the Administration of the Probation System, 1973-1987 (appointed Chairman in 1978); Advisory Corrections Council, 1976-present; and U.S. Delegation at the Sixth and Seventh United Nations Congresses for the Prevention of Crime and Treatment of Offenders.

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Judge J.L. Edmondson
U.S. Circuit Judge
United States Court of Appeals
Eleventh Circuit
Born: Jasper, Georgia
Date of Appointment: May 7, 1986
Entered on Duty: June 9, 1986
Chief Judge: June 1, 2002 - May 31, 2009
Education:
Emory University, B.A., 1968; University of Georgia School of Law, J.D., 1971; University of Virginia, LL.M. (Judicial Process), 1990.
Previous Employment:
Law Clerk to the Chief Judge in the Northern District of Georgia, 1971- 1973.
Professional Organizations:
American Bar Association, State Bar of Georgia, Gwinnett County Bar Association, Lawyers Club of Atlanta, and the Old War Horse Lawyers Club.

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Judge Stanley F. Birch, Jr.
U.S. Circuit Judge
United States Court of Appeals
Eleventh Circuit
Born: Langley Field, Virginia
Date of Appointment: May 14, 1990
Entered on Duty: June 12, 1990
Education:
Calvert Hall, 1963. University of Virginia, B.A, 1967; Emory University School of Law, J.D., 1970; Master of Law in Taxation, 1976.
Previous Employment:
United States Army, First Lieutenant (1970-1972) (Vietnam Veteran) Law Clerk to Chief Judge Sidney O. Smith, Jr., U.S. District Court N.D. Georgia (1972-1974) Greer, Sartain & Carey (1974-1976) Birch, Hartness & Link (1976-1985) Vaughan, Davis, Birch & Murphy (1985-1990)
Professional Organizations: American Bar Association, State Bar of Georgia, Atlanta Bar Association, Gainesville-Northeastern Bar Association, Lawyers Club of Atlanta, and Old Warhorse Lawyers Club.

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Judge Susan H. Black
U.S. Circuit Judge
United States Court of Appeals
Eleventh Circuit
Born: Valdosta, Georgia
Date of Appointment: August 12, 1992
Entered on Duty: September 3, 1992
Chief Judge: January 26, 1990 - August 21, 1992 Middle District of Florida
Education:
Florida State University, B.A., 1964; University of Florida College of Law, J.D., 1967; University of Virginia, LL.M., 1984.
Previous Employment:
U.S. District Court Judge, Middle District of Florida, 1979-1992; Chief Judge, January 26, 1990 - August 21, 1992, Middle District of Florida.
Committee Appointments/Professional Organizations:
Judicial Conference Committee on the Inns of Court, 1984-1987; Judicial Improvements Committee, 1987-1990; Committee on Court Administration and Case Management, 1990-1992; president, U.S. District Judge's Association of the Eleventh Circuit, 1987-1988; Board of Trustees, American Inn of Court Foundation, 1985-1991; founding member, Chester Bedell Inn of Court; Florida Bar; and Jacksonville Bar Association; Judicial Conference Committee on Federal-State Jurisdiction, 1998-present.

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Judge Ed Carnes
U.S. Circuit Judge
United States Court of Appeals
Eleventh Circuit
Born: Albertville, Alabama
Date of Appointment: September 10, 1992
Entered on Duty: October 2, 1992
Education:
University of Alabama, B.S., 1972; Graduated Cum Laude from Harvard Law School, J.D., 1975.
Previous Employment:
Alabama Attorney Generals Office, 1975-1992.
Professional Organizations:
Federal Judges Association; Chairman, Judicial Conference Advisory Committee on Criminal Rules, 2001-present; Member, Judicial Conference Advisory Committee on Criminal Rules, 1997-present

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Judge Rosemary Barkett
U.S. Circuit Judge
United States Court of Appeals
Eleventh Circuit
Born: Ciudad Victoria, Tamaulipas, Mexico
Date of Appointment: April 15, 1994
Entered on Duty: April 21, 1994
Education:
Spring Hill Law College, B.S., (summa cum laude) 1967; University of Florida Law School, J.D., 1970. Previous Employment:
Educator in Elementary and Secondary Schools, 1960-1967; Trial Lawyer, private practice, 1970-1979; Judge, Circuit Court, Fifteenth Judicial Circuit of Florida, 1979-1984; Judge, Fourth District Court of Appeals of Florida, 1984-1985; 1st woman Associate Justice, Florida Supreme Court, 1985-1992; 1st woman Chief Justice, Florida Supreme Court, 1992-1994.
Professional Organizations:
American Bar Association, The Fellows of the American Bar Association, American Bar Association Standing Committee on Public Education, Florida Bar, National Association of Women Judges, Florida Commission on the Status of Women, and American Law Institute

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Judge Frank M. Hull
U.S. Circuit Judge
United States Court of Appeals
Eleventh Circuit
Born: Augusta, Georgia
Date of Appointment: September 18, 1997
Entered on Duty: October 3, 1997
Education:
University of Reading, 1968-1969; Randolph-Macon Woman's College, B.A., 1966-1968, 1966-1968; Emory University School of Law, J.D., (cum laude), 1973.
Previous Employment:
Law Clerk to the Honorable Elbert P. Tuttle, United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, 1973-1974; associate, Powell, Goldstein, Frazer & Murphy, 1974-1980; partner Powell, Goldstein, Frazer & Murphy, 1980-1984; Judge, State Court of Fulton County, 1984-1990; Judge, Superior Court of Fulton County, 1990-1994; U.S. District Judge, Northern District of Georgia, 1994-1997.
Committee Appointments/Professional Organizations:
American Judicature Society, National Board of Directors, American Bar Association, Atlanta Bar Association, Gate City Bar Association, North Fulton Bar Association, South Fulton Bar Association, Georgia Association of Women Lawyers, Georgia Association of Black Women Attorneys, National Association of Women Judges, National Center for State Courts, Lawyers Club of Atlanta, Bleckley American Inn of Court, and Federal Judges Association.

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Judge Stanley Marcus
U.S. Circuit Judge
United States Court of Appeals
Eleventh Circuit
Born: New York, New York
Date of Appointment: November 12, 1997
Entered on Duty: November 24, 1997
Education:
Queens College of the City University of New York, B.A., (magna cum laude), 1967; Harvard Law School, J.D., 1971
Previous Employment:
U.S. Attorney, Southern District of Florida, 1983-1985
U.S. District Court Judge; Southern District of Florida, 1985-1997
Committee Appointments/Professional Organizations:
Judicial Conference Committee on Federal-State Jurisdiction, 1991-present, (Chairman, 1992-present); Chairman Judicial Conference Ad Hoc Committee on Gender-Based Violence, 1992-present; Federal Bar Association; Florida State Bar Association; New York State Bar Association; Chairman, Magistrate Committee, Southern District of Florida; Executive Committee, Security Committee, Rules Committee, Southern District of Florida; and Civil Justice Advisory Committee, Southern District of Florida; Chairman, Board of Editors, Manual for Complex Litigation, 4th Ed.

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Judge Charles R. Wilson
U.S. Circuit Judge
United States Court of Appeals
Eleventh Circuit
Born: Pensacola, Florida
Date of Appointment: August 9, 1999
Entered on Duty: September 13, 1999
Education:
University of Notre Dame, B.A., 1976; University of Notre Dame, J.D., 1979
Previous Employment:
Law clerk, Hon. Joseph W. Hatchett, U.S. Court of Appeals, Fifth Circuit, 1979-1980 Assistant county attorney, Hillsborough County, FL, 1980-1981 Private practice, Tampa, FL, 1981-1986 State county judge, Hillsborough County, FL, 1986-1990 U.S. Magistrate, U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida, 1990-1994 U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Florida, 1994-1999

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Judge William H. Pryor Jr.
U.S. Circuit Judge
United States Court of Appeals
Eleventh Circuit
Born: Mobile, Alabama
Date of Appointment: June 10, 2005
Entered on Duty: February 20, 2004
Education:
Northeast Louisiana University, B.A., magna cum laude, 1984; Tulane University School of Law, J.D., magna cum laude, 1987
Professional Career:
Law Clerk, Hon. John Minor Wisdom, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, 1987-1988; Cabaniss, Johnston, Gardner, Dumas & O'Neal (Birmingham, Alabama 1988 to 1991); Walston, Stabler, Wells, Anderson & Bains (Birmingham, Alabama 1991 - 1995); Adjunct Professor, Samford University, Cumberland School of Law, 1989-1995; Deputy Attorney General, Alabama, 1995-1997; State Attorney General, Alabama, 1997-2004
Professional Organizations:
Member of the American Law Institute; Member of the Board of Advisory Editors of the Tulane Law Review

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Judge Beverly B. Martin
U.S. Circuit Judge
United States Court of Appeals Eleventh Circuit
Born: Macon, Georgia
Date of Appointment: January 20, 2010
Entered on Duty: February 1, 2010
Education:
Stetson University, B.A., 1976
University of Georgia, J.D., 1981
Previous Employment:
Judge, United States District Court, Northern District of Georgia, 2000 – 2010
United States Attorney, Middle District of Georgia, 1997 – 2000
Assistant United States Attorney, Middle District of Georgia, 1994 – 1997
Assistant Attorney General, State of Georgia, 1984 – 1994
Martin, Snow, Grant & Napier, 1981 – 1984

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Senior Judges

Judge James C. Hill
Senior U.S. Circuit Judge
United States Court of Appeals
Eleventh Circuit
Born: Darlington, South Carolina
Date of Appointment: May 21, 1976
Entered on Duty: May 26, 1976
Senior Status: October 15, 1989
Education:
University of South Carolina, B.S.C., 1948 (war interrupted); Lamar School of Law, Emory University, J.D., 1948.
Previous Employment:
Private practice, Atlanta, Georgia, 1948-1974; U.S. District Judge, Northern District of Georgia, 1974-1976.
Committee Appointments/Professional Organizations:
Judicial Conference Committee on Intercircuit Assignments, 1990-present; Chair, Federal Judicial Center Appellate Education Committee; American College of Trial Lawyers; American Bar Association; life fellow, American Bar Foundation; Lawyers Club of Atlanta; American Law Institute; American Judicature Society; State Bar of Georgia and Atlanta Bar Association.

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Judge Peter T. Fay
Senior U.S. Circuit Judge
United States Court of Appeals
Eleventh Circuit
Born: Rochester, New York
Date of Appointment: September 17, 1976
Entered on Duty: October 8, 1976
Senior Status: January 19, 1994
Education:
Rollins College, B.A.; University of Florida, J.D., 1956.
Previous Employment:
Associate, Patton and Kanner, Miami, Florida, 1956; partner, Nichols, Gaither, Green, Frates and Beckham, Miami, Florida, 1956-1961; Frates, Fay, Floyd and Pearson, Miami, Florida, 1961-1970; U.S. District Judge, Southern District of Florida, 1970-1976.
Committee Appointments/Professional Organizations:
Judicial Conference Committee to Implement the Criminal Justice Act, 1975-1981; Ad Hoc Committee on Cameras in the Courtroom, 1983-1984; Advisory Committee on the Codes of Conduct, 1979-1987; Judicial Conference Advisory Committee on Appellate Rules, 1987-1989; Eleventh Circuit Standing Education Committee; Attorney General's Advocacy Institute, faculty member, Department of Justice; National Judicial Council of State and Federal Courts, Co-chariman; Executive Committee of the Eleventh Circuit Judicial Council; American Bar Association; Florida Bar Association; and Dade County Bar Association; member, Special Panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, Independent Counsel, 1994-present

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Judge Phyllis A. Kravitch
Senior U.S. Circuit Judge
United States Court of Appeals
Eleventh Circuit
Born: Savannah, Georgia
Date of Appointment: March 23, 1979
Entered on Duty: April 10, 1979
Senior Status: December 31, 1996
Education:
Goucher College, B.A., 1941; University of Pennsylvania Law School, LL.B., 1943
Previous Employment:
Chatham County Board of Education, 1949-1955; Judge, Superior Court, Eastern Judicial Circuit of Georgia, 1977-1979.
Professional Organizations:
American Bar Association, State Bar of Georgia, American Law Institute, American Judicature Society, and American Bar Foundation.

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Judge R. Lanier Anderson
U.S. Circuit Judge
United States Court of Appeals
Eleventh Circuit
Date of Appointment: Appointed on August 6, 1979 to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, which on October 1, 1981, became an appointment to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit.
Entered on Duty: October 1, 1981
Chief Judge: May 17, 1999 - May 31, 2002
Senior Status: February 1, 2009
Education:
Yale College, A.B., 1958; Harvard Law School, LL.B., 1961
Previous Employment:
U.S. Army, 1961-1963
Private Practice, 1963-1979
Committee Appointments/Professional Organizations:
Judicial Conference Committee on Codes of Conduct, 1987-1992, (Chairman, 1992-1995); American Bar Association; American Judicature Society; and the State Bar of Georgia.

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Judge Emmett Ripley Cox
Senior U.S. Circuit Judge
United States Court of Appeals
Eleventh Circuit
Born: Cottonwood, Alabama
Date of Appointment: April 18, 1988
Entered on Duty: April 25, 1988
Senior Status: December 18, 2000
Education:
University of Alabama, B.A., 1957; University of Alabama Law School, LL.B., 1959
Previous Employment:
U.S. District Judge, Southern District of Alabama, 1981-1988
Committee Appointments/Professional Organizations: Member, Alabama and Mobile Bar Associations; Member, Federal Bar Association; Member, Maritime Law Association of the United States; Admitted to Bar, U.S. Supreme Court, Court of Appeals for the Fifth, Eighth, and Eleventh Circuits; Defender Services Committee, Judicial Conference of the U.S., 1992-1998, Chair, 1995-1998; Chair, Ad Hoc Subcommittee on Death Penalty Representation, Defender Services Committee, 1994-1995. Adjunct Professor, University of Alabama School of Law, Fall 1996. Committee on the Judicial Branch, Judicial Conference of the U.S., 2001-present.

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Court Directory
Department Name Phone Number
Attorney Admissions (404) 335-6122
Circuit Executives Office (404) 335-6535
Kinnard Mediation Center (Atlanta) (404) 335-6260
Kinnard Mediation Center (Tampa) (813) 301-5530
Kinnard Mediation Center (Miami) (305) 714-1900
Library (Atlanta) (404) 335-6500 (General Information)
Eleventh Circuit Historical Society (404) 335-6395
Human Resources (404) 335-6202


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Clerk's Office Directory
Main Number:
(404) 335-6100
For Emergencies on Weekends/Nights, call the above number for instructions.
Section Information
If you know which section you need to reach, you may contact that section directly as follows:

Section Contact Numbers
Case Management Section 1 (404) 335-6130 for information on appeals ending in alpha digits A, AA, B, BB, C, CC
Case Management Section 2 (404) 335-6135 for information on appeals ending in alpha digits D, DD, E, EE, F, FF
Case Management Section 3 (404) 335-6120 for information on appeals ending in alpha digits G, GG, H, HH, I, II
Calendaring Section (404) 335-6131
Opinions (404) 335-6161 or (404) 335-6151
Records/Mail Section (404) 335-6115
CJA & Attorney Services (404) 335-6122
Human Resources (404) 335-6202


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Court Business Hours

The United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit is open between the hours of:

8:30 am - 5:00 pm EST
Monday through Friday

Closed on all Federal Holidays

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Maps and Addresses

Click on the location name to get driving directions, maps, and transit information.

Atlanta
Address: 56 Forsyth Street, N.W., Atlanta, Georgia 30303
Phone: (404) 335-6100
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Miami
(Satellite Office)
Address: 99 N.E. 4th Street, Miami, Florida 33132
Phone: (305) 536-4562
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Jacksonville
(unmanned)
Address: 300 N. Hogan St., Jacksonville, Florida 32202
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Montgomery
(unmanned)
Address: 15 Lee Street, 4th Floor Courtroom, Montgomery, Alabama 36104

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Directions to the Elbert Parr Tuttle
United States Court of Appeals Building
56 Forsyth Street N.W.
Atlanta, Georgia 30303

Directions to the courthouse from Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport:
(approximately 12 miles or 20 minutes)

Maps: (.PDF)
Downtown Atlanta
Downtown and Midtown Atlanta
MARTA


Directions to the courthouse from major interstates:

I-20 East I-20 West I-75/85 North I-75/85 South Directions to the courthouse from the MARTA train:

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Directions to the Miami Sattelite Office:


99 NE. 4th St., #1212
Miami, Florida 33132

Directions from airport (Miami, Intl.)

1: Start out going EAST on ramp    0.3 miles
2: Merge onto N. LE JEUNE RD/NW 42ND AVE/FL-953 S.    0.6 miles
3: Take the SR-836 E. ramp towards I-95/DOWNTOWN    0.2 miles
4: Merge onto FL-836 (portions toll)    3.8 miles
5: Stay STRAIGHT to go onto I-395 E.    0.6 miles
6: Take the NE 2ND AVE exit on the left towards US-1/BISCAYNE    0.5 miles
7: Merge onto the NE 11th TER    0.0 miles
8: Turn RIGHT onto BISCAYNE BLVD/US-1 S.    0.5 miles
9: Turn RIGHT onto NE 4TH ST.    0.2 miles

Total Distance:    6.6 miles
Total Time:    11 minutes

View Maps
(new page, use back link to return)

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Directions to Jacksonville Location:


300 N. Hogan Street
Jacksonville, Fl. 32202

Directions from airport (Jacksonville Intl.)

1: Start out going west on YANKEE CLIPPER RD. towards TERMINAL by turning left.    0.1 miles
2: Turn SLIGHT LEFT onto PARKING    0.1 miles
3: Go STRAIGHT    0.2 miles
4: Turn LEFT onto PARKING EXIT    0.1 miles
5: Stay straight to go onto AIRPORT EXIT    0.0 miles
6: AIRPORT EXIT becomes DIXIE CLIPPER RD.    0.5 miles
7: DIXIE CLIPPER RD. becomes FL-192 E.    1.4 miles
8: Take the I-95 ramp towards JACKSONVILLE    0.3 miles
9: Merge onto I-95 S.    10.2 miles
10: Take the UNION ST. EXIT, (#117), on the left towards RIVERFRONT/ SPORTS COMPLEX/US-90-ALT    0.1 miles
11: Keep LEFT at the fork in the ramp    0.0 miles
12: Turn SLIGHT LEFT onto W UNION ST/ FL-139 E/ US-23 S.    0.30 miles
13: Turn RIGHT onto N. JEFFERSON St.    0.26 miles
> 14: Turn LEFT onto W. MONROE St.    0.35 miles
14: Turn LEFT onto N. HOGAN St.    0.06 miles

Total Distance:    14.0
Total Time:    21 minutes

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Directions to the Montgomery Location:


15 Lee St.
Montgomery, Alabama, 36104

Directions from airport (Montgomery Regional; Dannelley Field.)

1: Start out going EAST on US-80 E. towards BREWER RD.    2.9 miles
2: Turn SLIGHT LEFT to take the I-65 N. ramp    0.5 miles
3: Merge onto I-65 N.    3.5 miles
4: Take the I-85 N. exit (#171) towards ATLANTA    0.3 miles
5: Merge onto I-85 N.    0.5 miles
6: Take the COURT ST. EXIT (#1)    0.1 miles
7: Stay straight to go onto ARBA ST.    0.3 miles
8: Turn LEFT onto US-331 N/US-231 ALT N/US-80 ALT E.    0.1 miles
9: US 331 N/US-231 ALT N/US/80 ALT E becomes US-231 ALT N/US-80 ALT E.    1.4 miles

Total Distance:    9.7 miles
Total Time:    19 minutes

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Fee Schedule

**Opinions** $4.00 each copy

The fees included in the Court of Appeals Miscellaneous Fee Schedule are to be charged for services provided by the courts of appeals.

(1)   For docketing a case on appeal or review, or docketing any other proceeding, $450.00.

[Clerk's Note: In addition to the $450.00 appellate docketing fee, there is an additional district court filing fee of $5.00 for filing a Notice of Appeal with the district court. Thus, the total amount payable to the district court for filing a Notice of Appeal with the district court is $455.00.]

(2)   For conducting a search of the court of appeals records, $30.00 per name or item searched. This fee applies to services rendered on behalf of the United

(3)   For certification of any document, $11.00.

(4)   For reproducing any document, $.50 per page. This fee applies to services rendered on behalf ofthe United States if the document requested is available through remote electronic access.

(5)   For reproducing recordings of proceedings, regardless of the medium, $30.00, including the cost of materials. This fee applies to services rendered on behalf of the United States if the recording is available through remote

(6)   For reproducing the record in any appeal in which the court of appeals does not require an appendix pursuant to FED. R. APP. P. 30(f), $83.00.

(7)   For retrieval of a record from a Federal Records Center, National Archives, or other storage location removed from the place of business $53.00.

(8)   For a check paid into the court which is returned for lack of funds, $53.00.

(9)   For copies of opinions, a fee commensurate with the cost of printing, as fixed by each court.

(10)   For copies of the local rules of court, a fee commensurate with the cost of distributing the copies. The court may also distribute copies of the local rules without charge.

(11)   For filing:

(12)   For counsel's requested use of the court's videoconferencing equipment in connection with each oral argument, the court may charge and collect a fee of $200.00 per remote location.

(13)   For original admission of an attorney to practice, including a certificate of admission, $176.00. For a duplicate certificate of admission or certificate of good standing, $18.00.

[Clerk’s Note: In addition to the $176.00 national admission fee, there is a local admission fee of $20.00. Thus, the total amount payable to the Court for admission to the bar is $196.00.


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Where to send Case Filings
Address all Case Filings to:

John Ley, Clerk
U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit
56 Forsyth St. N.W. Atlanta, Georgia 30303

Clerk's Office Main Phone Number:
404-335-6100

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History of the Court of Appeals
The U.S. Court of Appeals, the first and ultimate tenant of the building, had been created twenty years earlier by an 1891 act of Congress to relieve the Supreme Court of much of its growing appellate duties and to remedy deficiencies in the cumbersome Circuit Court System, which was finally abolished in 1911.

The nine courts of appeal were not to be trial courts or to exercise original jurisdiction. They were to be the indispensable middle rung in the three-tiered federal court system that had been envisioned since the First Judiciary Act of 1789 established federal courts, pursuant to Article III, section I of the Constitution. Below the courts of appeal were the U.S. district courts, which were trial courts for civil and criminal cases involving federal law. Above the courts of appeal was the Supreme Court. Many elements of the former circuit courts were embodied in the courts of appeal.

Each court of appeals served a geographic region. For the former Fifth Circuit, that region included Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, Texas, and the Canal Zone, essentially the same region served by the old Fifth Circuit Court since the reorganization of the circuits in 1866. Congress, in 1869, in an effort to strengthen the circuits, authorized the appointment of a circuit judge for each circuit. The first judge of the reorganized Fifth Circuit, appointed by President Grant in 1869, was William Burnham Woods. When Woods became the only jurist from the Fifth Circuit ever to serve on the Supreme Court, his successor was Don Albert Pardee, appointed in 1881.

Nearly all of the federal judges in the south followed their states in seceding from the Union in 1860-61 and had become judges of the Confederate States of America. During the Reconstruction period after the war, a candidate for federal judgeship had to be able to swear that he had given no aid to the Confederacy. Judge Woods was a former Ohio legislator who had marched with General Sherman's army to the sea before settling in Alabama after the war to be a cotton planter and attorney.

Judge Pardee was also a native of Ohio and former Union officer, having enlisted in a regiment raised by then Colonel James A. Garfield. In 1865, he settled in New Orleans to practice law and subsequently won several elections as a Republican. When Garfield was elected president in 1880, appointed his old friend Pardee to be circuit judge. As circuit judge, Pardee was automatically a judge of the Court of Appeals, which was supposed to hear cases in three-judge panels composed of the circuit judge, the Supreme Court justice assigned to each circuit, and a district court judge.

Congress, in the 1891 Act which created the Court of Appeals, authorized a second judge for the Fifth Circuit, and in 1892 that position was filled by Texan A.P. McCormick, a former Confederate soldier but Republican office holder and, since 1879, a District Court judge for North Texas.

When congress authorized a third judge for the Fifth Circuit in 1899, the appointment went to David D. Shelby, a Huntsville, Alabama, attorney and former Confederate cavalry officer.

The 1891 Court of Appeals Act designated one city in each circuit where court would be held. In the Fifth Circuit, that was New Orleans, easily the principal city of the region. The court met in the Customs House on the corner of Canal and Decatur Streets. In June 1902, Congress authorized the Fifth Circuit to hold a term in a second city -- Atlanta, which was now the home of Senior Judge Pardee. Thus began a New Orleans-Atlanta polarity which characterized the Fifth Circuit for much of its history. Fort Worth and Montgomery were added later that year as additional places where the Court of Appeals would sit.

The Court of Appeals remained at three judges until 1930 when the number was increased to four. A fifth judge was added in 1934, a sixth in 1942, a seventh in 1954, an eighth and ninth in 1961. Four more came at once in 1966, two more in 1968, and in 1978, eleven new judges were authorized, bringing the total to 26. Rapid growth characterized the federal courts generally, but the circuit that contained both Florida and Texas felt the strain particularly. The Fifth was the busiest circuit in the nation by the late 1950s, hearing between 500 and 600 appeals a year. That number increased radically during the next twenty years, topping 1,000 by 1964, then 2,000 by 1970 and 3,000 by 1974. by 1980, the total reached 4,236. One source of new cases came from the removal from state to federal courts of racially-related criminal cases. The impact of the 1964 Civil Rights Act on federal courts in the South was dramatic. The number of criminal cases nationwide removed to federal courts was 14 in 1963, 43 in 1964 and 1,192 in 1965, and 1,075 of those 1965 cases were in the states that composed the Fifth Circuit.

The cases heard by the Court of Appeals reflected the times. The Judiciary Act of 1925 sent habeas corpus cases to the Courts of Appeals instead of to the Supreme Court. That Act and the presence in Atlanta of a maximum security federal penitentiary brought some notorious criminals into the federal courthouse in Atlanta, possibly even Al Capone himself. Capone was incarcerated in Atlanta and his attorneys field habeas corpus appeals in Atlanta in 1933 and again in 1934.

The importance of Atlanta in the Fifth Circuit was enhanced by the strong role played by Samuel Hale Sibley, a Court of Appeals judge from 1931 to 1947 and senior judge from 1942 to 1947. Judge Sibley lived in Marietta. Among the noteworthy Fifth Circuit cases argued in Atlanta were Chapman v. King (1946) in which the court, in an opinion by Judge Sibley, struck down Georgia's all-white Democratic primary, and Screws v. United States (1944), in which the majority (Judges Edwin R. Holmes and Curtis L. Waller) found that a black beaten to death by Georgia law enforcement officers was denied his civil rights because the officers acted under color of state law. (Judge Sibley dissented and the Supreme Court reversed on the grounds that the law enforcement officers acted beyond their legal authority.)

The handful of civil rights cases that surfaced in the 1940s was the prelude to the storm that gathered after the landmark 1954 Brown v. Board of Education decision by the Supreme Court which struck down the principle of separate-but-equal public education. That decision had far-reaching consequences, particularly in the states that made up the Fifth Circuit, and it placed the U.S. District Courts and the Court of Appeals there in the center of a firestorm. Under the leadership of a group of judges from the Fifth Circuit, the segregation system which the South had nurtured for 100 years after the Civil War was dismantled in the name of the Constitution of the United States.

That full story has been told (Cf. Frank T. Read and Lucy S. McGough, Let Them Be Judged, 1978; Jack Bass, Unlikely Heroes, 1981, and Harvey C. Couch, A History of the Fifth Circuit 1891-1981), and it rightly belongs to the whole Fifth Circuit, not the federal courthouse in Atlanta, but it brought moments of national attention to events at 56 Forsyth Street and packed the Court of Appeals courtroom with civil rights litigants (pro and con), newsmen and celebrated attorneys, caught up in the making of history.

In an Atlanta case, Holmes v. City of Atlanta (1955), blacks challenged the legality of all-white golf courses operated by the city. The district court ruled that Brown v. Board of Education applied only to schools, and that separate-but-equal golf courses were legal. It gave the city time to prepare separate golf courses for blacks. The Court of Appeals affirmed the District Court, but the Supreme Court, which had just ruled Dawson v. Mayor and City Council of Baltimore (1955) that segregated recreational facilities were illegal, overruled and directed the district court to find in favor of the plaintiffs.

As the full force of the federal government was exerted to eradicate state-sanctioned segregation and the full force of the state governments within the Fifth Circuit was exerted to preserve it, the federal courts in the South provided the impetus for change. Federal District Court judges in the South had a mixed record in the desegregation campaign of the 1960s. Some, like Alabama's Frank Johnson, Florida's Bryan Simpson and Louisiana's Skelly Wright, applied the concept of Brown and its progeny and extended Supreme Court rulings in the face of local opposition. Others cooperated with state political leaders to thwart or at least delay desegregation and had to be forced by higher courts to apply proper Constitutional principles. But a working majority of the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, led by a noted foursome (Elbert P. Tuttle, Richard T. Rives, John Minor Wisdom and John Robert Brown) persevered to get the job done, in spite of divisions within the court.

The national spotlight swung to Judge Tuttle's Atlanta courtroom in January 1961 when the new chief judge signed an order requiring the University of Georgia to immediately enroll two blacks, Hamilton E. Holmes and Charlayne Hunter. That decision sent the University's lawyers scurrying to Washington in an unsuccessful attempt to get the Supreme Court to overrule Judge Tuttle. It resulted in threats by the State to close the University and in the brief suspension of the two students following tense confrontations on campus and a night in which members of the Ku Klux Klan joined white students in stoning Ms. Hunters dorm. The Justice Department threatened to use federal marshals to enforce the court order, and after four days of resistance, when it became apparent that the full force of the federal government lay in Judge Tuttle's pen, the University was desegregated.

Judge Tuttle, as a attorney, had maintained a law practice in Atlanta since 1923, but he was a Republican, appointed to the bench by President Eisenhower, and he had grown up in interracial Hawaii and had few ties to the Old South. Judge Tuttle served as chief judge and acknowledged leader of the court from 1960-1967, the period of greatest intensity and significance in the litigious controversies over desegregation. Because he lived in Atlanta and maintained permanent chambers in its federal courthouse, and because he pioneered the use of such speedy, one-man court actions as the injunction pending appeal, Judge Tuttle brought to the Atlanta courthouse greater prominence in civil rights litigation than might otherwise have befallen a courthouse that was not the principal home of the Court of Appeals.

The spotlight came back to Atlanta and its Court of Appeals courtroom in July 1964. President John F. Kennedy had been assassinated in Dallas in November 1963, and President Lyndon Johnson had mustered political forces in Congress to pass the 1964 Civil Rights Act over bitter opposition from Southern legislators. It forbad discrimination in public accommodations like restaurants and hotels. Two events in Atlanta followed the signing of that bill into law on July 2, 1962. Attorney Moreton Rolleston, the owner of the Heart of Atlanta Motel, filed suit challenging the constitutionality of the law, and an unsuccessful political office seeker named Lester Maddox became an instant celebrity when he drove off five black ministers who attempted to enter his Pickrick Restaurant in downtown Atlanta.

The Maddox and Heart of Atlanta Motel cases were combined and, at the request of the Justice Department, heard by a three-judge panel at the courthouse in Atlanta in the first test of the constitutionality of the far-reaching 1964 Civil Rights Act. Judge Tuttle, District Court Judge Frank A. Hooper and then District Court Judge Lewis R. Morgan, after a trial that packed the courtroom with a capacity crowd of celebrated government and NAACP lawyers, newsmen and observers, ruled unanimously that the law was constitutional, and they were upheld when the Heart of Atlanta case was appealed to the Supreme Court. Maddox was later elected governor of Georgia. During the trial, according to the Atlanta Constitution, "large crowds had to be turned away by federal marshals when the courtroom was filled with "big guns" of the Justice Department and the NAACP Legal Defense Fund."

The judicial load in the Fifth Circuit continued to mount. Repeated efforts to divide the circuit for administrative reasons ran into politics in Congress as court leaders sparred with Senate Judiciary Chairman (and civil rights foe) James Eastland. By 1980, the politics gave way to the urgency of doing something about the crushing workload, and, after receiving petitions signed by every district and circuit judge and every bar association within the circuit, Congress conducted formal hearings and approved, on October 14, 1980, the division of the court into two circuits. A new, smaller Fifth Circuit Court would stay in New Orleans and exercise appellate jurisdiction over cases originating in Louisiana, Texas and Mississippi, and a brand new, Eleventh Circuit would be located in Atlanta and hear cases coming from Georgia, Florida, and Alabama. The split became official on October 1, 1981, and the twelve judges living in the Eleventh Circuit states all elected to join that circuit, while the 14 judges living within the new Fifth chose to stay with that Circuit. Atlanta was now home to the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals, and Judge John C. Godbold, who had been chief judge of the old Fifth, became chief of the new Eleventh. In Bonner v. City of Prichard, Ala., the first case heard by the Eleventh Circuit, the court adopted the case law of the old Fifth Council as binding precedent for itself, thus acknowledging its legal roots.

The choice of Atlanta as a Court of Appeals headquarters was determined by the process just described. The choice of the Old Courthouse" as the home of the Court of Appeals was dictated by a series of circumstances that included process of elimination. The building was being left by its other tenants. The post office, which was feeling a real pinch by the late 1920s, had moved its operational headquarters to a new building on the ground between Forsyth and Spring Streets, built between 1931 and 1933. The top administrators, including the Atlanta Postmaster, continued to occupy the post office at 56 Forsyth Street until 1975, when the post office moved its remaining operations. Meanwhile, construction had begun in 1975 on the huge Richard B. Russel Federal Building and U.S. Courthouse on Spring Street at Martin Luther King Boulevard. Original plans called for both the District Court and Court of Appeals to move to the Russell Building, but such plans envisioned a three-judge District Court. That court had already expanded to six judges by the time construction began. When it reached eleven judges in 1979, there was no possibility that the building could house both courts. By this time there was a growing expectation that a new Court of Appeals would soon be formed in Atlanta. The majestic old courthouse became the logical site for the new Eleventh Circuit. That building had certainly suffered from heavy use and needed major renovation, but the judges of the Fifth Circuit had seen that court of appeals move from its New Orleans courthouse in 1963 and operate in temporary quarters for nine years while its grand old courthouse was renovated. So the Eleventh Circuit court, following the same course, moved out of the building, leaving an empty shell for contractors to remodel., and moved into temporary quarters at the Federal Annex, across Spring Street from the new Russell Building, on March 20, 1985. At that point, restoration of the Court of Appeals Building began.

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Judge Elbert Parr Tuttle, Sr.

Born July 17, 1897, Pasadena, California
Died June 23, 1996, Atlanta, Georgia

Federal Judicial Service:

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit
Nominated by Dwight D. Eisenhower on July 7, 1954, to a new seat created by 68 Stat. 871; Confirmed by the Senate on August 3, 1954, and received commission on August 4, 1954. Served as chief judge, 1960-1967. Assumed Senior Status on June 1, 1968. Service terminated on October 1, 1981 due to assignment to another court.

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit
Reassigned October 1, 1981; Service terminated on June 23, 1996 due to his death.

Education:

Cornell University, A.B., 1918
Cornell Law School, LL.B., 1923

Professional Career:

U.S. Army Air Service Private, 1918-1919
Private Practice, Atlanta, Georgia, 1923-1953
U.S. Army Colonel, 1941-1946
General Counsel, U.S. Treasury Department, 1953-1954

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Remembering Judge Elbert P. Tuttle, Sr., by Charles M. Elson (From the Cornell Law Review, Volume 82)

Elbert Tuttle was a most extraordinary man. He lived not one, but really four full lives, setting a standard of excellence in each that few, even separately, could ever match. Distinguished lawyer, journalist, decorated military leader, and courageous jurist, he was a "citizen" in the classical sense of the term. Judge Tuttle was a man of tremendous accomplishments, yet he was quiet, humble, even slightly self-effacing. Despite the tumultuous period in which he lived and worked, Judge Tuttle always seemed to take life's challenges with a slightly wry wit and not very much visible worry or angst. Given the gravity of what he faced, however, he must have had considerable inner concern. He maintained an unusually demanding professional life, yet was completely devoted to his wife Sara and his children, Elbert, Jr. and Jane. Tuttle was a truly complete person whom untold numbers admired and respected.

Judge Tuttle was born in California in 1897, but grew up in Hawaii. He graduated from Cornell with a bachelor's degree in 1918, then entered the Army where, among other things, he wrote for the service newspaper, continuing a journalistic interest that began at Cornell where he was the Editor of the Cornell Sun. After the war ended, he wrote for the New York Evening World, before entering Cornell Law School. He excelled as a law student, served as the Editor-in-Chief of the Cornell Law Review, and graduated in 1923.

Judge Tuttle then began law practice in Atlanta, Georgia. Although he had no prior connection to the southern city, he and his brother-in-law William A. Sutherland (a former Brandeis clerk) felt that there was much opportunity in the even-then bustling regional center. They founded what later became the nationally known law firm of Sutherland, Tuttle & Brennan (now Sutherland, Asbill, and Brennan). Tuttle was active in numerous civic causes, but in the 1930's became known as a prominent civil libertarian when he represented, among others, a black man (whom he had saved from a lynching as a major in the Georgia National Guard) accused of raping a white woman and a black communist imprisoned for passing out leaflets at the Fulton County Courthouse. The latter case ended up at the U.S. Supreme Court where Tuttle prevailed in the now renowned case of Herndon v. Lowry.1 His most celebrated case of that era and one of the early landmark civil liberties rulings, however, was Johnson v. Zerbst,2 which established a defendant's right to counsel in a federal trial unless such assistance was intelligently waved.

With the U.S. entry into World War II, Tuttle, by then a lieutenant colonel in the National Guard, declined a desk job and was deployed to the South Pacific where he commanded a field artillery battalion. During this command Tuttle was severely wounded in hand-to-hand combat on Ie Shima, a Pacific Island off Okinawa. He eventually retired from military service as a brigadier general. When the war ended, Tuttle returned to his Atlanta law practice and renewed his activity in civic affairs, becoming President of the Chamber of Commerce. Long active in Republican politics, unusual for a leading Atlantan at the time, he was in part responsible for delivering the southern delegations to General Eisenhower at the 1952 Republican Convention, and President Eisenhower appointed him General Counsel of the Treasury Department. Among his close acquaintances were most of the young Republican luminaries of the day. In 1954, at the urging of his political cohort and friend, John Minor Wisdom, Tuttle accepted an appointment to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. By then almost sixty, Tuttle initially viewed the appointment as the beginning of his retirement from an active career in the law. Fortunately, this was not to be.

Soon after his appointment, the Supreme Court handed down its ruling in Brown v. Board of Education,3, forever changing the racial landscape of the United States. Tuttle, rather than returning to Atlanta for a leisured judicial sinecure, instead became a vigorous champion of the civil rights movement. As both a judge and a then chief judge of the Fifth Circuit, Tuttle, aided by his colleagues John Minor Wisdom, John Brown, and Richard Rives, assured the effective desegregation of southern society. Despite numerous personal attacks ane even threats of physical violence, Tuttle courageously ensured that the Supreme Court's edict would be fully enforced by the regional federal courts, assuring the ultimate victory of racial justice and civil rights under law in the South. Historian Jack Bass labeled him an "unlikely hero,"4 and in 1980, President Carter awarded him the Presidential Medal of Freedom (which in Judge Tuttle's characteristically understated way, he kept in a cabinet beneath his television set).

In 1981, he became a judge on the newly-formed U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit and continued to decide cases well into his nineties. He authored over 1400 opinions and became recognized not only as a great civil libertarian, but as a highly-skilled legal thinker and craftsman. Judge Tuttle wrote in a crisp, simple and precise style that was influenced both by his early career as a journalist and his military experiences. He had a keen intellect and a spectacular memory. He could recite page references and highly specific historical detail even into his early nineties.

It is almost impossible in the space of a law review dedication to sum up the life of a man as multifaceted, talented and renowned as Judge Tuttle. However, three simple characterizations immediately come to mind - courage, integrity, and professionalism. Tuttle was an individual of great personal courage. He demonstrated tremendous physical courage throughout his military activities and during the civil rights era, when acts of physical violence against those supporting integration were regretfully commonplace. But, he also continuously displayed great intellectual courage in championing various unpopular causes, both political and social. Although he grew up in a different era than today, he nonetheless had a sense that society as it was then structured was not as it ought to be. He had the strength to challenge convention and the vision to create a more just culture, where equality under law was not just an empty platitude, but a reality for all citizens.

Tuttle was also a man of tremendous personal integrity. He never wavered from his core beliefs, even when doing so, particularly during the civil rights era, would have guaranteed a more pleasant and uneventful career. Yet, he was never preachy or high-handed. He simply conducted himself in a manner that he thought was right.

My favorite Tuttle characteristic, however, was his deeply held and continuously visible sense of professionalism. Judge Tuttle did not simply speak of professionalism, he was the very embodiment of the term. In the late 1950s, he delivered a commencement address at Emory University in which he spelled out his concept of the professional. Since entering teaching seven years ago, I have always ended each years class reading that speech to my students because I felt that it captured not only the essence of good lawyering, but the meaning of real virtue. As Tuttle stated:



The professional man is in essence one who provides service. But the service he renders is something more than that of the laborer, even the skilled laborer. It is a service that wells up from the entire complex of his personality. True, some specialized and highly developed techniques may be included, but their mode of expression is given its deepest meaning by the personality of the practitioner. In a very real sense his professional service cannot be separate from his personal being. He has no goods to sell, no land to till. His only asset is himself. It turns out that there is no right price for service, for what is a share of a mans worth? If he does not contain the quality of integrity, he is worthless. If he does, he is priceless. The value is either nothing or it is infinite.

So do not try to set a price on yourselves. Do not measure out your professional services on an apothecaries' scale and say "Only this for so much." Do not debase yourselves by equating your souls to what they will bring on the market. Do not be a miser, hoarding your talents and abilities and knowledge, either among yourselves or in your dealings with your clients...

Rather be reckless and spendthrift, pouring out your talent to all whom it can be out of service! Throw it away, waste it, and in the spending it will be increased. Do not keep a watchful eye lest you slip and give away a little bit of what you might have sold. Do not censor your thoughts to gain a wider audience. Like love, talent is only useful in its expenditure, and it is never exhausted. Certain it is that man must eat; so set what price you must on your service. But never confuse the performance, which is great, with the compensation, be it money, power, or fame, which is trivial.

...The job is there, you will see it, and your strength is such, as you graduate... that you need not consider what the task will cost you. It is not enough that you do your duty. The richness of life lies in the performance which is above and beyond the call of duty.

Judge Elbert Tuttle always acted above and beyond the call of duty. The richness and example of his life truly made the world a finer place in his own time and set an example for others that will long serve as splendid inspiration. We will miss him.

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The Eleventh Circuit Historical Society

The Eleventh Circuit Historical Society is a private, nonprofit organization incorporated in Georgia on January 17, 1983. Although the Society has no legal connection with the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit, or the federal government, the Society's primary purpose is to keep a record of the history of the courts of the Eleventh Circuit as institutions and of the judges who have constituted these courts. In this regard, the Society considers the judges in the old Fifth Circuit from the states of Alabama, Florida, and Georgia to be included in our area of interest.

In addition, the Society continually strives towards our broader mission of fostering public appreciation of the role and impact of the federal court system in the states encompassed by the Eleventh Circuit.

Since the formation of the Society came shortly after the creation of the Circuit, this timing is especially exciting because the Society can write history as current history, not as research history. The Society is devoted to preserving our courts' heritage through the collection of portraits, photographs, videotaped oral histories, documents, news articles, books, artifacts, and personal memorabilia.

The Society has a permanent office located in the Elbert P. Tuttle United States Court of Appeals Building in Atlanta. Our Board of Trustees is composed of lawyers and legal scholars who represent the historical interests of Alabama, Florida, and Georgia.

The Society's archival activities are partially funded by grants and other special gifts, but we depend primarily upon our members for our financial support and general maintenance.

If you would like information on becoming a member, or have historical information, artifacts, or memorabilia for the Historical Society, please contact us at (404) 335-6395.

The latest edition of the Society's newsletter as well as past editions are available on the Historical Society's website.

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Rules and Addenda  (All .PDF documents will open in a new window)

FRAP, 11th Circuit Rules, and IOP - Effective August 1, 2011

Rules Index

Addenda to 11th Circuit Rules

General Orders of the Court

District Rules

Proposed Revisions to 11th Circuit Rules and IOP

Previous Revisions to 11th Circuit Rules and IOP (12 months)

Judicial Complaints


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Addenda to the 11th Circuit Rules:

1    Rules for conduct of and representation and participation at the Eleventh Circuit Judicial Conference
2    Procedures in proceedings for review of orders of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.
3    Rules for Judicial-Conduct and Judicial-Disability Proceedings adopted by the Judicial Conference of the United States, with Eleventh Circuit Judicial Conduct and Disability Rules (4/09)


4    Eleventh Circuit plan under the Criminal Justice Act (12/09)
5    Non-Criminal Justice Act counsel appointments
6    Rules and Regulations of the Judicial Council and the
7    Regulations of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit for the selection and appointment or reappointment of Federal Public Defenders
8    Rules governing attorney discipline in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit

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General Orders of the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit

General Order No. Date Entered Subject
1 Oct. 1, 1981 Composition of the Judicial Council of the Eleventh Circuit (hereinafter, “Judicial Council”)
2 Dec. 14, 1981 Establishment of Jury Instructions Subcommittee of the District Court Committee of the Judicial Council
3 Jan. 18, 1982 Chief District Judge William Brevard Hand designated to fill Judicial Council vacancy
4 Sept. 2, 1982 Amendment of General Order No. 1
5 Nov. 1, 1982 Designation of all senior circuit judges to participate as a member of any en banc court reviewing a decision of a panel of which such judge was a member
6 Aug. 23, 1983 Norman E. Zoller, Circuit Executive, appointed as custodian of funds
7 Mar. 4, 1986 Judge Henderson considered an active judge for the limited purpose of quorum on court panels
8 Apr. 17, 1987 Composition of the Judicial Council
9 Oct. 2, 1989 General Order No. 7 vacated; Judges Roney and Hill considered active judges for the limited purpose of quorum on court panels
10 Oct. 20, 1989 Defendant’s presentence investigation report to be transmitted by district court as part of record on appeal
11 Apr. 30, 1991 Suspension of portion of 11th Cir. R. 34-2(a) providing for two active judges on a panel
12 Aug. 31, 1992 Office of the clerk rendered inaccessible to filings due to the effects of Hurricane Andrew
13 Apr. 5, 1993 Sealed order (see General Order No. 31)
14 Nov. 2, 1993 Sealed order (see General Order No. 31)
15 Jan. 6, 1994 Sealed order (see General Order No. 31)
16 June 20, 1994 Sealed order (see General Order No. 31)
17 May 22, 1995 Amendment of Addendum Eight (Rules Governing Attorney Discipline)
18 Sept. 28, 1995 Order entered in accordance with “Directives for Operating the U.S. Courts in the Absence of Appropriations”
19 Feb. 12, 1996 Amendment of Addendum Six (Rules for the Selection of Nominees and the Appointment of Bankruptcy Judges)
20 May 1, 1996 Amendment of 11th Cir. R. 22-3, Habeas Corpus Death Penalty Cases
21 June 24, 1996 In the matter of work schedule and office hours during the 1996 Olympic Games
22 Oct. 28, 1996 Task of enrolling eligible attorneys as members of court’s bar delegated to clerk of court
23 June 3, 1997 Amendment of 11th Cir. R. 31-1(a) and 31-1(b), concerning the time for filing briefs
24 June 22, 1998 Amendment of 11th Cir. R. 30-1, concerning record excerpts
25 Sept. 28, 1998 Office of the clerk rendered inaccessible to filings due to the effects of Hurricane Georges
26 Oct. 22, 1998 Revised procedures and forms
27 Jan. 27, 1999 Amendment of 11th Cir. R. 12-1 and 31-1, concerning the time for serving and filing briefs
28 Mar. 1, 2002 Sealed order (see General Order No. 31)
29 Apr. 1, 2003 Amendment of 11th Cir. R. 33-1(c) and 33-1(d), concerning mediation
30 Sept. 20, 2004 11th Cir. R. 33-1(g), Use of Private Mediators, promulgated effective Oct. 1, 2004
31 June 17, 2005 Sealing of General Orders 13, 14, 15, 16, and 28, pertaining to court security or personnel matters
32 Feb. 22, 2006 Implementation of electronic records on appeal pilot program in the Southern District of Alabama
33 Feb. 26, 2007 Extension of electronic records on appeal pilot program in the Southern District of Alabama and consideration of requests by other district courts to participate
34 Mar. 6, 2007 Amendment of 11th Cir. R. 26.1-2 and 26.1-3, concerning Certificate of Interested Persons and Corporate Disclosure Statement
35 Oct. 23, 2007 On-going electronic records on appeal program in the Southern District of Alabama; revised program components; and, procedure for subsequent modifications to program components
36 June 16, 2011 Change in or addition to counsel after appeal assigned to oral argument panel
37 October 19, 2011 Voluntary Electronic Case Filing

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District Rules  (Links are to other court web sites, and will open in a new window)

Northern District of Alabama
Middle District of Alabama
Southern District of Alabama
Northern District of Florida
Middle District of Florida
Southern District of Florida
Northern District of Georgia
Middle District of Georgia
Southern District of Georgia

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Proposed Revisions to 11th Circuit Rules and IOP  (All .PDF documents will open in a new window)

Notice posted August 2, 2010

None at this time.

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 (All .PDF documents will open in a new window)

Notice posted March 21, 2011 (effective August 1, 2011, as approved)

FRAP, 11th Circuit Rules, and IOP - Effective August 1, 2011

Notice of and Opportunity for Comment on Proposed Amendments to the Rules of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit

Table of Proposed Revisions to Eleventh Circuit Rules

Red-Lined Version of Proposed Revisions to Eleventh Circuit Rules

Notice posted August 2, 2010 (effective December 1, 2010, as approved)

FRAP, 11th Circuit Rules, and IOP - Effective December 1, 2010

Notice of and Opportunity for Comment on Proposed Amendments to the Rules of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit

Table of Proposed Revisions to Eleventh Circuit Rules and IOP

Red-Lined Version of Proposed Revisions to Eleventh Circuit Rules and IOP (incorporating minor changes to 11th Cir. R. 46-11 approved by the Court in response to comments received)

Notice posted April 1, 2010 (effective August 1, 2010, as approved)

FRAP, 11th Circuit Rules, and IOP - Effective August 1, 2010

Notice of and Opportunity for Comment on Proposed Amendments to the Rules of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit

Table of Proposed Revisions to Eleventh Circuit Rules and IOP

Red-Lined Version of Proposed Revisions to Eleventh Circuit Rules and IOP

 

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Judicial Compliants

Congress has created a procedure that permits any person to file a complaint in the courts about the behavior of federal judges—but not about the decisions federal judges make in deciding cases. Below is a link to the rules that explain what may be complained about, who may be complained about, where to file a complaint, and how the complaint will be processed. There is also a link to the form you may use.

Almost all complaints in recent years have been dismissed because they do not follow the law about such complaints. The law says that complaints about judges’ decisions and complaints with no evidence to support them must be dismissed. If you are a litigant in a case and believe the judge made a wrong decision—even a very wrong decision—you may not use this procedure to complain about the decision. An attorney can explain the rights you have as a litigant to seek review of a judicial decision.

Rules for Judicial-Conduct and Judicial-Disability Proceedings adopted by the Judicial Conference of the United States
(Effective April 10, 2008)

The following rules remain in effect except to the extent that a particular provision conflicts with the Rules for Judicial-Conduct and Judicial-Disability Proceedings adopted by the Judicial Conference of the United States:

Rules of the Judicial Council of the Eleventh Circuit governing complaints of judicial misconduct or disability (12/03)
  • Appendix A - 28 U.S.C. § § 351-364
  • Appendix B - Complaint Form


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    Opinions

    Published Opinion Daily Log (Ordered by date of issue, from most recent to oldest)
    UnPublished Opinion Daily Log (Ordered by date of issue, from most recent to oldest)


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    En Banc Issues

    En Banc Issues:
    Date Issued: Case #: Case Name: File Name: View File:


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    Documents (In .PDF format)
    (These documents will open in a new window)

    The .PDF documents listed below are .PDF Forms. You may fill out the information in the form before printing the document.
    (NOTE: the documents will still print without being filled in, should you require a blank form.)
    Applications and Forms  
    Appearance of Counsel Form

    Application for Admission to the Bar

    Bar Membership Renewal Form

    Application to Appear Pro Hac Vice

    Application for extension of time to file transcript and waiver of fee reduction

    Form to Accompany Application for Attorney's Fees

    CJA Information and Forms

    Pro Se Certificate of Interested Persons Form

    Pro Se Certificate of Service Form

    Motion for Permission to Appeal In Forma Pauperis with Affidavit

    Civil Appeal Statement (revised 6/98)

    28 USC § 2244(b) Application for Leave to File a Second or Successive Habeas Corpus Petition

    28 USC § 2255 Application for Leave to File a Second or Successive Motion to Vacate, Set Aside or Correct Sentence

    Checklists  
    Civil Appeals Jurisdiction Checklist

    		Criminal Appeals Jurisdiction Checklist (7/10)
    Mediation  

    Civil Appeal Statement

    Mediation in the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals

    Private Mediator Procedures for Mediation of Appeals

    Confidential Mediation Statement

    Brief Extensions

    Post-Settlement Dismissal Procedures

    Circuit Mediation Process (flow chart)

    Pattern Jury Instructions
    Pattern Jury Instructions (Civil) 2005 (.pdf format)
    Word Perfect format (.wpd)     		Pattern Jury Instructions (Criminal) 2010 (.pdf format) & Resolution Filed by the Judicial Council of the 11th Circuit
    (Eff. June 24, 2010)
    .pdf Format - large document, right click the link and "Save As" to save
    Word Perfect Format (.wpd)


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    CJA Information and Forms
    (These documents will open in a new window)

    The .PDF documents listed below are .PDF Forms. You may fill out the information in the form before printing the document.
    (NOTE: the documents will still print without being filled in, should you require a blank form.)

    Instructions for Completing CJA 20 Voucher

    Special Notice to Counsel Appointed Under the Criminal Justice Act Concerning Government Rates for Airline Travel to Oral Argument

    Notice to Court-Appointed Counsel of Public Disclosure of Attorney Fee Information

    CJA 20 Time and Expense Worksheets

    CJA 30 (Death Penalty) Time and Expense Worksheets

    		  


    CJA Resources

    CJA Forms, Instructions, and Guidelines
    All CJA forms and instructions are posted on the public Federal Judiciary website maintained by the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts (AO), along with the AO's Guidelines for Administering the CJA and related statues.

    Office of Defender Services Training Branch
    This website is maintained by the Office of Defender Services Training Branch of the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts (AO). The website provides training and other resource support to attorneys appointed under the Criminal Justice Act, and includes the AO's Guidelines for the Administration of the Criminal Justice Act.

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    Electronic Records on Appeal Program

    In February 2006, with General Order 32, the Court implemented a pilot program in the Southern District of Alabama to determine whether the Court could conduct its business efficiently and without additional cost, while relieving certain district courts of the burden of providing paper copies of the record on appeal. Since that date, the program has been modified and expanded with General Order 33 and General Order 35.

    At the present time, and upon request by the respective district courts, the Court has approved participation by the following district courts in the Court’s Electronic Records on Appeal Program, either as an on-going program or a pilot program:

    One of the important components of the Electronic Records on Appeal Program is the requirement that parties in appeals must file Expanded Record Excerpts that contain certain documents in addition those required by 11th Cir. R. 30-1. The required documents are listed in the Electronic Records on Appeal Program Components (Revised November 2011). In addition, parties will find more detailed information, including checklists and samples, in the Instructions for Preparing Expanded Record Excerpts (Revised March 2010).

    ELECTRONIC RECORDS ON APPEAL PROGRAM INFORMATION

    Electronic Records on Appeal Program Components (Revised November 2011)

    Instructions for Preparing Expanded Record Excerpts (Revised August 2011)

    Expanded Record Excerpts Checklist - Summary Judgment Cases

    Expanded Record Excerpts Checklist - Criminal Cases

    General Order 35

    General Order 33

    General Order 32




    Court Offices

    The offices of the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit are the Clerk's Office, the Circuit Executive's Office, The Kinnard Mediation Center, the Human Resources Department, the Staff Attorneys' Office, and the Eleventh Circuit Library.

    Clerk's Office

    The Clerk's Office is open from 8:30 am to 5:00 pm, Monday through Friday, and is closed on all federal holidays.

    For information regarding a specific appeal please refer to the Clerk's Directory and contact the appropriate docket clerk handling the appeal.

    For general information, you may call the Clerk's Office main phone number at (404) 335-6100.

    The Eleventh Circuit Rules, Internal Operating Procedures (IOP), and Clerk's Office forms, are available in ".pdf" format in the Rules and Documents sections.

    Clerk's Office Mailing Address:

    U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit
    56 Forsyth St. N.W.
    Atlanta, Georgia 30303

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    Office of the Circuit Executive

    The primary function of the Circuit Executive of the United States Eleventh Judicial Circuit is to facilitate all of the Circuit's administrative operations and its non-judicial activities.

    As Secretary to the Circuit Judicial Council, the Circuit Executive provides services, including program development and policy implementation, as well as organizing and staffing of various judicial committees such as Space and Facilities, Information Technology, and Finance and Budget. As part of the role of Secretary to the Circuit Judicial Council, the Circuit Executive is also charged with planning and organizing circuit judicial conferences.

    The Circuit Executive provides administrative and managerial assistance to the Chief Judge of the circuit and other judges throughout the circuit.

    Finally, as principal staff officer to the Court of Appeals, the Circuit Executive coordinates the activities and functions of the other staff offices supporting the court.

    The Circuit Executive is appointed by the Eleventh Circuit Judicial Council.

    Circuit Executive's Mailing Address:
    James Gerstenlauer
    Eleventh Judicial Circuit
    56 Forsyth St. N.W.
    Atlanta, Ga. 30303
    Phone: (404) 335-6535

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    Kinnard Mediation Center

    The Kinnard Mediation Center (formerly known as the Circuit Mediation Office) conducts mediation of civil appeals under Federal Rule of Appellate Procedure 33 and Eleventh Circuit Rule 33-1. The Court’s mediation process provides opportunities for parties to resolve their dispute confidentially with the help of a neutral third-party. Each year hundreds of appeals are resolved through the mediation program.

    The circuit mediators of the Kinnard Mediation Center are full-time court employees and have extensive trial and appellate experience as well as extensive experience in negotiation, mediation, and Eleventh Circuit practice and procedures. The circuit mediators are located in Atlanta, Tampa, and Miami.

    Since October 1, 2006, the court has allowed for the substitution of private mediators upon agreement of all parties at their expense. Rule 33-1(g) and the document “Private Mediator Procedures for Mediation of Appeals” provide the procedures and requirements that govern the use of private mediators for this purpose.

    Information you need to prepare for a mediation is in the document Mediation in the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals. Also see the Circuit Mediation Process flow chart. Information you need to substitute a private mediator is in the document Private Mediator Procedures for Mediation of Appeals. To confidentially request mediation, you may contact any office by telephone or fax.



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    Human Resources

    Below you will find all vacancies for the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals followed by the date posted, court location and a file name, with a link attached.

    If you would like to read more about a particular position, click the link on the file name to open the official job description. (Job descriptions will open in a new window)

    All Job Listings
    Job Name: Date Posted: Location: View File
    Staff Attorney 02/01/2013 Atlanta SAO_Job_Announcement_2013.pdf
    Judicial Administrator 04/19/2013 Atlanta Judicial_Administrator_2013.BBM.pdf
    Systems Analyst/Programmer 05/21/2013 Atlanta Systems_Analyst-Programmer_5-2013.CO.pdf
    Systems Analyst/Programmer 05/21/2013 Atlanta Systems_Analyst-Programmer_5-2013.CE.pdf
    Library Clerk 05/21/2013 Mobile Library_Clerk_(Mobile)_5-2013.pdf


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    Staff Attorneys' Office

    Pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 715, the Chief Judge, with approval of the Court, may appoint a Senior Staff Attorney, who, with the approval of the Chief Judge, may appoint necessary staff attorneys and secretarial and clerical employees. The Senior Staff Attorney is the director of the Staff Attorneys' Office.

    The Staff Attorneys' Office assists the Court by conducting research into specific areas of law as determined by the Court, and communicates its work product to the Court by way of written memoranda of law. This work encompasses both substantive and procedural issues. The substantive areas of the law include, but are not limited to: habeas corpus petitions (28 U.S.C. §§ 2241, 2254); motions to vacate, set aside, or correct sentences (28 U.S.C. § 2255); civil rights actions (42 U.S.C. § 1983, Bivens v. Six Unknown Named Agents of Federal Bureau of Narcotics, 403 U.S. 388, 91 S.Ct. 1999, 29 L.Ed.2d 619 (1971)); motions to withdraw as counsel pursuant to Anders v. California, 386 U.S. 738, 87 S.Ct. 1396, 18 L.Ed.2d 493 (1967); Title VII employment discrimination actions; direct criminal appeals; social security appeals; black lung actions; bankruptcy; tax law; agency review, and immigration law.

    Additionally, a specialized unit within the office assists the Court in the initial review of all appeals filed for the purpose of determining jurisdiction. Another specialized unit presents substantive motions to the Court for the determination of in forma pauperis status, certificates of appealability, transcripts at government expense, and motions to withdraw/substitute counsel.

    While all Court staff serve "at the pleasure of the Court," attorneys generally are appointed for two year terms.

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    Attorney Admissions

    The rules for Attorney Admission can be found at FRAP 46 and the accompanying circuit rules.
    Click to view FRAP 46 and the accompanying circuit rules

    Only attorneys admitted to the bar of this court may practice before the court. An applicant must file an application for admission on a form approved by the court. Click here for the application form.

    Submit your application to the clerk's principal office in Atlanta, Georgia, accompanied by a Certificate of Good Standing issued within the previous six months from your Qualifying Court and an admission fee of $196 payable to Clerk, U.S. Court of Appeals, Eleventh Circuit.

    There is no formal swearing-in ceremony. It is the responsibility of each member of the bar to keep this court informed of any changes to addresses, phone numbers, fax numbers, and e-mail addresses.

    The following attorneys shall be admitted for the particular proceeding in which they are appearing without the necessity of formal application or payment of the admission fee: an attorney appearing on behalf of the United States, a federal public defender, an attorney appointed by a federal court under the Criminal Justice Act or appointed to represent a party in forma pauperis. Attorneys in these categories who desire to receive an admission certificate from the Eleventh Circuit must pay the admission fee.

    We invite your particular attention to the following items on the application form which are sometimes neglected by counsel. These items must be enclosed or completed in order for the application to be processed.

    1. Enclose a Certificate of Good Standing issued within the previous six months from your qualifying court
    2. Enclose the $196 admission fee made payable to Clerk, U.S. Court of Appeals, Eleventh Circuit
      and sign your check

    3. On the application form:
    4. Have the application notarized, including seal.


    Renewal of Bar Membership

    The rules for renewal of bar membership can be found at 11th Cir. R. 46-2.
    Click to view FRAP 46 and the accompanying circuit rules.



    Each attorney admitted to the bar of this court shall pay a bar membership renewal fee of $10.00 every five years. If you were admitted after April 1, 1989, please count from the date on your admission certificate. If you were admitted before April 1, 1989, please see the schedule set forth in 11th Cir. R. 46-2. Click here for the bar membership renewal form.

    Pro Hac Vice Admission

    The rules for pro hac vice admission can be found at 11th Cir. R. 46-4
    Click to view FRAP 46 and the accompanying circuit rules


    Click here for the Application to Appear Pro Hac Vice


    Entry of Appearance

    The rules for entering an appearance can be found at 11th Cir. R. 46-5
    Click to view FRAP 46 and the accompanying circuit rules



    All attorneys (except court appointed attorneys) must file an Appearance of Counsel Form in each appeal in which they participate within 14 days after notice is mailed by the clerk. Click here for the appearance form.

    After the expiration of 14 days, the clerk may not accept filings (other than a brief) from an attorney who was sent such notice until the attorney files an Appearance of Counsel Form.

    When an attorney who has not filed an Appearance of Counsel Form tenders a brief for filing, the clerk shall treat the failure to file an Appearance of Counsel Form as a deficiency in the form of a brief.

    A motion to file an Appearance of Counsel Form out of time is not required.

    An Appearance of Counsel Form must be filed prior to oral argument by any attorney (except court-appointed counsel) intending to argue.



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    Attorney Update Form - Please fill out the form below to update your Attorney Admissions Information

    Important Note: If you are NOT already a member of the Bar for the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals, please do not use this form. Please click here for information about Attorney Admissions. This form is reserved for existing bar members who need to update information already on file.

    if applicable

    (For positive identification purposes only - no changes will be processed without this information)
     
    Please note change of:






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    Briefing and Filing Instructions

    Maintaining Privacy of Personal Data  
    Filing the Notice of Appeal Where to Send Case Filings
    Filing Briefs (Color/Quantity/Time) Costs Notice
    Filing Briefs (Format) Sample Certificate of Compliance
    Briefs Checklist Instructions on Making Proper Record References
    Web-Based CIP and Brief Uploading Brief Uploading Instructions
    Record Excerpts (Format/Color/Quantity) Record Excerpts Checklist
    Petitions for Rehearing and for Rehearing En Banc
    (Color/Quantity/Time Summary)     		Certificate of Interested Persons and Corporate Disclosure Statement Format Checklist



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    Filing the Notice of Appeal

    An appeal permitted by law as of right from a district court to a court of appeals may be taken only by filing a notice of appeal with the district clerk within the time allowed by Rule 4. At the time of filing, the appellant must furnish the clerk with enough copies of the notice to enable the clerk to comply with Rule 3(d). An appeal from a judgment by a magistrate judge in a civil case is taken in the same way as an appeal from any other district court judgment. An appeal by permission under 28 U.S.C. § 1293(b) or an appeal in a bankruptcy case may be taken only in the manner prescribed by Rules 5 and 6, respectively. When two or more parties are entitled to appeal from the same district court judgment or order, and their interests make joinder practicable, they may file a joint notice of appeal. They may then proceed on appeal as a single appellant.

    Payment of Fees
    Upon filing a notice of appeal, the appellant must pay the district clerk all required fees. The district clerk receives the appellate docket fee on behalf of the court of appeals.

    Time for filing a Notice of Appeal in a Civil Case
    In a civil case, except as provided by Rules 4(a)(1)(B), 4(a)(4), and 4(c), the notice of appeal required by Rule 3 must be filed with the district clerk within 30 days after the judgment or order appealed from is entered. When the United States or its officer or agency is a party, the notice of appeal may be filed by any party within 60 days after the judgment or order appealed from is entered.

    Time for Filing a Notice of Appeal in a Criminal Case
    In a criminal case, a defendant's notice of appeal must be filed in the district court within 10 days after the later of: (1)the entry of the judgment of the order being appealed or; (2) the filing of a notice of appeal by any defendant.

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    Where to Send Case Filings

    Address all Case Filings to:

    Clerk's Office Main Phone Number:

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    Briefs; Color/Quantity/Time Summary

      Color of Cover Original + Copies Filed Time Number Served on Parties
    Appellant's Brief Blue Original + 6 40 days from date record deemed filed 1
    Cross-Appellant's Brief Red Original + 6 30 days from service 1
    Appellee's Brief Red Original + 6 30 days from service 1
    Cross-Appellee's Brief Yellow Original + 6 30 days from service 1
    Reply Brief Gray Original + 6 14 days from service 1
    Intervenor's Brief Green Original + 6 Same as party supported 1
    Amicus Curiae Brief Green Original + 6 Same as party supported + 7 days 1
    Supplemental Brief Tan Original + 6 As directed by the Court 1
    In Forma Pauperis Brief Same as appellant or appellee Original + 3 Same as appellant or appellee 1


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    Briefs; Format Summary

    Type of Paper  Light, Opaque, and Unglazed
    Color of Ink  Black
    Spacing Between Lines  Double-spaced
    Spacing of quotations  Single-spaced
    Spacing of Headings  Single-spaced
    Spacing of footnotes  Single-spaced
    Required paper size  8 1/2 X 11 inches
    Mimimum top/bottom margins  1 inch
    Minimum side margins  1 inch
    Minimum type size   if proportionally spaced: 14 point Times Roman (or similar) if not proportionally spaced: 10 1/2 characters per inch.
    Number of sides available for text  one side only
    Cover type  90 lb. index or more durable
    Binding location  Securely bound along left-hand margin

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    Record Excerpts; Format/Color/Quantity Summary

    Specific Information Related to Record Experpts
    Size of paper 8 1/2 X 11 inches (reduce larger original filings to 8/12 x 11 inches if material remains legible, or fold to no larger than 8 1/2 x 11 inches)
    Cover Color White
    Cover Type 90 lb. index paper or more durable
    Cover locations Front and back
    Index immediately following cover page
    Tab numbers correspond to original document numbers noted on district court docket sheet
    Binding location securely fastened at top
    Number of copies filed 5*
    Time for filing with appellant's brief
    Certificate of service required? yes
    Number served on parties 1
    * Parties proceeding in forma pauperis need only file one copy. Incarcerated pro se parties are not required to file record excerpts.


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    Petitions for Rehearing and Rehearing En Banc; Color/Quantity/Time Summary

    Petitions for Rehearing and Rehearing En Banc; Color/Quantity/Time Summary
    Type of Petition Color Cover Originals + Copies Filed Time Number of Pages Number Served on Parties
    Petition for Rehearing Not Required Original + 3 within 21 days of opinion filing date * 15 2 **
    Petition for Rehearing and for Rehearing En Banc White Original + 14 within 21 days of opinion filing date * 15 2 **
    Petition for Rehearing En Banc White Original + 14 within 21 days of opinion filing date * 15 2 **
    Notes
    * Within 45 days of opinion filing date in civil cases in which the United States or an officer or agency thereof is a party.

    ** Parties proceeding in forma pauperis need only serve one copy.


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    Web-Based CIP and Brief Uploading

    Click here for Attorney Registration

    Brief Uploading Instructions

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    Related Links

    Eleventh Circuit links:
    Name of Site: Link: Link Category:
    Alabama Middle Bankruptcy Court http://www.almb.uscourts.gov Eleventh
    Alabama Middle District Court http://www.almd.uscourts.gov Eleventh
    Alabama Northern Bankruptcy Court http://www.alnb.uscourts.gov Eleventh
    Alabama Northern District Court http://www.alnd.uscourts.gov Eleventh
    Alabama Southern Bankruptcy Court http://www.alsb.uscourts.gov Eleventh
    Alabama Southern District Court http://www.als.uscourts.gov Eleventh
    Court Directory - 11th Circuit http://www.ca11.uscourts.gov/about/directory.php Eleventh
    Florida Middle Bankruptcy Court http://www.flmb.uscourts.gov Eleventh
    Florida Middle District Court http://www.flmd.uscourts.gov Eleventh
    Florida MIddle Probation Office http://www.flmp.uscourts.gov Eleventh
    Florida Northern Bankruptcy Court http://www.flnb.uscourts.gov/ Eleventh
    Florida Northern District Court http://www.flnd.uscourts.gov Eleventh
    Florida Southern Bankruptcy Court http://www.flsb.uscourts.gov Eleventh
    Florida Southern District Court http://www.flsd.uscourts.gov Eleventh
    Georgia Middle Bankruptcy Court http://www.gamb.uscourts.gov Eleventh
    Georgia Middle District Court http://www.gamd.uscourts.gov Eleventh
    Georgia Northern Bankruptcy Court http://www.ganb.uscourts.gov Eleventh
    Georgia Northern District Court http://www.gand.uscourts.gov Eleventh
    Georgia Southern Bankruptcy Court http://www.gasb.uscourts.gov Eleventh
    Georgia Southern District Court http://www.gasd.uscourts.gov Eleventh


    State Supreme Courts:
    Name of Site: Link: Link Category:
    Alabama Supreme Court http://www.alalinc.net/appellate_supreme.cfm Supreme
    Florida Supreme Court http://www.flcourts.org Supreme
    Georgia Supreme Court http://www2.state.ga.us/Courts/supreme/ Supreme


    Federal Judiciary links:
    Name of Site: Link: Link Category:
    Supreme Court http://www.supremecourtus.gov Federal
    U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit http://www.fedcir.gov Federal
    Other Federal Court Sites http://www.uscourts.gov/allinks.html Federal
    Federal Judiciary Home Page http://www.uscourts.gov Federal
    Federal Judicial Center http://www.fjc.gov Federal


    Other Judiciary Related links:
    Name of Site: Link: Link Category:
    The White House http://www.whitehouse.gov Other
    U.S. House of Representatives http://www.house.gov Other
    FirstGov http://www.firstgov.gov Other
    U.S. Senate http://www.senate.gov Other
    State and Local Government http://www.statelocalgov.net/index.cfm Other
    PACER http://pacer.psc.uscourts.gov Other
    Library Of Congress http://www.loc.gov Other
    Judicial Fellows Program http://www.fellows.supremecourtus.gov Other


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