Home Technical Specifications

New York State Court of Appeals

Technical Specifications and Instructions for Submission of
Briefs and Record Material in Digital Format

  1. Digital submissions shall be transmitted to the Clerk's Office by uploading them to the Court of Appeals Public Access and Search System (Court-PASS).
  2. To upload digital submissions to Court-PASS, New York attorneys must be registered with the New York State Unified Court System's Attorney Online Services. Filers who are not New York attorneys must use "guest" login credentials, which will be provided by the Clerk's Office.
  3. All digital submissions to the Court of Appeals shall be in text searchable portable document format (PDF). Filers are encouraged to submit documents in archival format (PDF/A).
  4. The digital submissions shall be named in accordance with the conventions provided by the Clerk's Office.
  5. Filers must complete the Court's confidential and sensitive materials attestation form when uploading digital submissions to Court-PASS. The form is intended to ensure compliance with the Court's sealing and redaction requirements.
  6. Digital submissions may not exceed a file size of 100 megabytes. Filers are permitted to upload up to five documents per uploading session.
  7. Removing metadata from digital submissions is the filer's responsibility.
  8. To ensure effective redaction, the filer must use redaction methods that permanently remove sensitive content from all metadata and all document layers. Some PDF editing programs as well as specialized redaction tools can help ensure thorough redaction.
  9. If a document does not conform to the Court's requirements, including sealing and redaction requirements, the Clerk's Office will direct the filer to resubmit the document. Such resubmission is mandatory and must be accomplished within the time set by the Clerk's Office.
  10. A filer who has not been directed to resubmit a document, but wishes to do so, must obtain prior approval from the Clerk's Office.
  11. Uploading digital submissions to Court-PASS does not satisfy the filing due dates set by the Clerk's Office in a scheduling letter or by operation of the Court's Rules of Practice. The filer is responsible for meeting applicable due dates by filing the required number of paper documents with the Clerk's Office. A document is "filed" with the Clerk's Office on the date of receipt of the paper document. The digital submissions shall be uploaded to Court-PASS no later than the filing due date for paper documents.
  12. By uploading documents to Court-PASS, a filer attests that the digital submissions being uploaded are identical to the filed original printed materials, except that the digital submissions do not contain an original signature.

Naming Conventions for Briefs and Record Material

The appropriate title of the action can be found in the briefing letter sent to parties.

These naming conventions use the parties' designation in the Court of Appeals (i.e. role), not the court of original instance or the intermediate appellate court.

Abbreviations

appellant
app
respondent
res
amicus or amici
amic
brief
brf
reply brief
replybrf
record on appeal
Rec
amicus or amici brief
amicbrf
appendix
appdx
supplemental appendix
suppappdx
Appellate Division brief
ADbrf
Appellate Division reply brief
ADreplybrf
Appellate Division Record
ADRec
Brief in response to amicus brief
BrfRspAmic

PDF File Naming Conventions

Appellate Division materials:

Examples

Title of Action: Smith v Jones (as found in briefing schedule letter from Clerk's Office)
Appellant: Smith
Respondents: Jones and Brown
Amici: Concerned Citizens et al.

Smith files a brief and a 4 volume record. The PDF files would be named:

Jones files a brief. The PDF file would be named:

SmithvJones-res-Jones-brf.pdf

Brown files a brief and supplemental appendix. The PDF files would be named:

Concerned Citizens et al. files an amici brief. The PDF file would be named:

SmithvJones-amic-ConcernedCitizens-amicbrf.pdf