Filing a Notice of Appeal in California

Court of Appeal Matters Begin in the Trial Court

For an appeal within Court of Appeal jurisdiction, the notice of appeal is filed with the clerk of the superior court, which then performs the trial-court functions associated with initiating the appeal: notifying the parties and the Court of Appeal, collecting fees or processing fee waivers, and preparing the record.

After the notice is filed, the appellant in a civil appeal must also serve and file a Civil Case Information Statement in the Court of Appeal within the time the rules provide, which helps the court determine at the outset whether the appeal is timely and the judgment or order appealable.

California Appeals Before the Courts of Appeal

Statewide Judicial Council Forms

The Judicial Council maintains separate appellate form families for unlimited civil, limited civil, felony, misdemeanor, and infraction appeals. For example, form APP-002 is the notice of appeal and cross-appeal for an unlimited civil case, and each family includes companion forms for designating the record and for proof of service.

The current Forms Library should be used rather than an independently stored copy, because forms are revised on a regular cycle without their basic numbers changing.

• California Judicial Branch — Appellate FormsJudicial Council of California selfhelp.courts.ca.gov

Filing Mechanics Vary by County

The rules that govern where and how the notice may be filed are the superior court's own. Most superior courts now require represented parties to file electronically through an approved electronic filing service provider, with exemptions for self-represented litigants and others; the providers, document requirements, and filing locations for exempt filers differ by county.

Each superior court publishes its own local rules and electronic-filing instructions, which should be checked before the notice is filed.

Appellate Division Notices of Appeal

Limited civil, misdemeanor, and infraction appeals are also initiated by a notice of appeal filed in the superior court, but under the separate appellate-division rules and on the forms for those case types. Some superior courts have adopted local rules specific to their appellate divisions that address where the notice may be submitted and how fees and fee waivers are handled.

California Superior Court Appellate Divisions

Filing Time Requires Case-Specific Analysis

The time for filing a notice of appeal is governed by the rules applicable to the particular case and can depend upon the judgment or order, service and entry of relevant documents, post-trial motions that may extend the time, and other procedural circumstances. A cross-appeal has its own timing rules.

This site therefore does not publish a universal numerical appeal deadline.

Using this website or submitting a conflict check does not create an attorney-client relationship and does not extend, suspend, stay, or otherwise affect any legal, trial-court, appellate, or other deadline or proceeding.

Filing the Notice Does Not Complete the Appeal

After the notice is filed, attention turns to the appellate record and the procedures of the reviewing court.

• Preparing the Appellate Record in California
• Clerk's and Reporter's Transcripts in California
• California Appellate Forms, Rules and Research Resources