COURT OF APPEALS DIVISION ONE POLICIES
Division One of the Court of Appeals has adopted policies affecting
procedural matters not governed by rules of court. Many of these
policies are explained here to assist the public and members of the bar.

I. EXTENSIONS OF TIME
  A. Civil appeals
    In civil cases, extensions are not ordinarily granted; instead, they
    are granted only upon a showing of good cause. The court's
    official policy states: "[G]ood cause will include any event which
    counsel could not reasonably have been expected to anticipate.
    Examples of reasons constituting good cause include:
    illness, emergencies and substitution of counsel. In addition, if the
    parties are engaged in bona fide settlement negotiations, an
    extension may also be granted. A scheduled vacation may be
    considered good cause for a first_time extension."
    However, the court's policy also states: "The Court recognizes that
    counsel's work load may occasionally create hardships which make
    the timely filing of  briefs difficult. Any party may request, for this
    reason, a first_time extension up to thirty days from the due date of
    the brief. If such an extension is granted, the Court will look with
    extreme disfavor upon any subsequent request for an extension."
    (Emphasis in original).

    Motions for such extensions should be made as motions for
    procedural orders. See Rule 6(b), Ariz. R. Civ. App. P. If a
    requested extension is denied, the court will order that the brief be
    filed within ten days, and will direct that if the brief is the
    appellant's and is not filed, the appeal will be dismissed, or if the
    appellee's brief is not filed, the appeal will be submitted on the
    record and on the opening brief. Late briefs are also subject to
    sanctions under Rule 25, Ariz. R. Civ. App. P.


B. Criminal appeals
    Either party may request a single 28 day extension for
    filing a brief by telephone to a staff attorney designated to handle
    such requests. No reason need be given for the extension.

    Other extensions are not granted absent extraordinary
    circumstances, and when they are granted, may be accompanied
    by an order directing counsel who fails to file a timely brief to
    appear to show cause why sanctions should not be imposed.


II. SPECIAL ACTIONS
  A. Defects
    Special action documents may be rejected for filing by the office of
    the clerk if they do not comply with the rules or if tendered without
    a required filing fee. The clerk's office inspects these documents for
    compliance with the applicable rules.

  B. Stays
    The Court of Appeals will not grant a stay unless the superior court
    has already heard and denied a stay request. Accordingly, requests
    for stays should not be presented for the first time in the appellate
    court.

    The filing of a written stay request is not enough to obtain a stay or
    a stay hearing. The petitioner must ask the clerk's office for the
    name of the judge assigned to hear stay requests, then contact
    that judge's chambers and arrange for a stay hearing. Unless that
    is done, the court will not act upon a written stay request.

    A petitioner seeking a stay should consider whether the date
    scheduled for oral argument or conference on the petition itself is
    soon enough to obtain the relief needed. In other words, a
    petitioner seeking a stay should be prepared to show that a stay
    must be issued prior to the date for decision on the petition
    because of what will happen in the interim.

  C. Screening
    Special action petitions are screened when filed. If the panel finds a
    petition lacks merit on its face, the petition will be summarily
    dismissed without awaiting a response.

III. CRIMINAL APPEALS
  A. Stays
    Orders granting stays of appeals pending the resolution of
    proceedings under Rule 32, Arizona Rules of Criminal Procedure,
    are no longer routinely granted.

  B. Voluntary dismissals
    An appellant's motion to dismiss his or her appeal, when made by
    counsel, must be accompanied by appropriate evidence that the
    appellant has been advised of the consequences of this action.


IV. CIVIL DOCKETING STATEMENT
    One of the court's uses of the docketing statement is to detect
    jurisdictional defects. Accordingly, questions regarding the entry
    and nature of the judgment and of the parties and claims involved
    in the case should be answered with care and completeness.


V. ORAL ARGUMENT
     The court's calendars are generally set for Tuesdays and
    Wednesdays. In weeks when Monday is a holiday, Tuesday
    calendars may move to Thursday.

    Motions to continue oral argument from the scheduled date and
    time are generally granted only for true emergencies. Conflicts in
    scheduling with discovery matters or superior court proceedings
    are ordinarily not considered to be emergencies. Stipulations for
    continuances are not necessarily accepted unless accompanied by
    a showing of sufficient cause. Motions for continuance should be
    filed as motions for procedural order. See Rule 6(b), Ariz. R. Civ.
    App. P.

    The court makes an unofficial digital audio recording of each oral argument
    for the convenience of the court. Each such electronic recording is maintained
    in the clerk's office until the case to which it relates has been mandated or
    otherwise closed, after which the recording is deleted.
    These recordings are not created as, and do not constitute, official records
    of court proceedings.

    The panel of judges has read the briefs and has conferred about
    the case prior to oral argument. In almost all cases, the panel has
    also reviewed a bench memorandum, proposed written decision, or
    both. Accordingly, advocates should not spend their time repeating
    the facts of the case, and instead should proceed to directly
    address the questions presented.

VI. ACCELERATED APPEALS
    Accelerated disposition of a civil appeal may be obtained by
    stipulation or motion pursuant to Rule 29, Arizona Rules of Civil
    Appellaten Procedure. Under the rule, the parties may seek the
    advantages of: (1) shorter briefs; (2) priority in obtaining
    consideration and disposition of the appeal. Unlike a prior version
    of this procedure, Rule 29 allows the parties to petition for review
    to the Arizona Supreme Court from the decision of the court of
    appeals.

VII. MOTIONS FOR RECONSIDERATION
    By rule, responses to motions for reconsideration are not to be
    filed unless requested by the court. Rule 22(b), Ariz. R. Civ. App. P.

    Motions for reconsideration that merely reurge the arguments
    made in the briefs or that raise a new issue are very unlikely to
    succeed. Rule 22 provides that such motions "shall be directed
    solely to discussion of those specific points or matters in which it
    is claimed the appellate court erred in determination of facts or
    law."

VIII. REQUESTS FOR PUBLICATION
    The Court treats motions or requests for publication of a
    memorandum decision as an opinion as motions for reconsideration.
    Such requests may be captioned as motions for reconsideration.
    ARCAP 22 applies, and therefore such motions must be filed within
    15 days of the Court’s decision.

IX. POST-CONFERENCE CASE STATUS INQUIRY
    After a case has been taken under advisement, a party/attorney
    may inquire about the status. All inquiries must be directed to the
    office of Clerk of the Court. The Clerk's office response will confirm, if
    appropriate, that the case is pending and being decided in the
    normal course of business.

X. JUVENILE CASE NOTICES OF APPEAL AND RULE 104(B)
   Notices of appeal filed by counsel on behalf of parties in Juvenile cases
   must contain certain mandatory language prescribed by Rule 104(B),
   Arizona Rules of Procedure for the Juvenile Court: “By signing and filing
   this notice of appeal, undersigned counsel avows that [he/she]
   communicated with the client after entry of the judgment being appealed,
   discussed the merits of the appeal and obtained authorization from the
   client to file this notice of appeal.” When counsel in a juvenile matter files
   a notice of appeal that does not contain this required statement, and this
   notice of appeal is received by Division One from the Clerk of the Superior Court
   pursuant to Rule 104(C)(1) on or after April 1, 2008, the appeal will be identified
   and numbered in Division One’s system and promptly closed for non-compliance
   with Rule 104(B).