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Cal. Rules of Court, rule 8.220 · Article 3. Briefs in the Court of Appeal

Failure to file a brief

Verbatim from the official edition

Text — As posted by the Judicial Council of California (read October 22, 2026)

(a) Notice to file

If a party fails to timely file an appellant's opening brief or a respondent's brief, the reviewing court clerk must promptly notify the party in writing that the brief must be filed within 15 days after the notice is sent and that if the party fails to comply, the court may impose one of the following sanctions:

(1) If the brief is an appellant's opening brief, the court may dismiss the appeal;

(2) If the brief is a respondent's brief, the court may decide the appeal on the record, the opening brief, and any oral argument by the appellant.

(b) Combined brief

A party that is both an appellant and a respondent under rule 8.216 may file its combined respondent's brief and appellant's reply brief within the period specified in the notice under (a).

(c) Sanction

If a party fails to file the brief as specified in a notice under (a), the court may impose the sanction specified in the notice.

(d) Extension of time

Within the period specified in the notice under (a), a party may apply to the presiding justice for an extension of that period for good cause. If the extension is granted and the brief is not filed within the extended period, the court may impose the sanction under (c) without further notice.

Notes and commentary — not rule text

History

(Subd (a) amended effective January 1, 2016; previously amended effective January 1, 2007, and January 1, 2008.)

(Subd (b) amended effective January 1, 2007.)

(Subd (c) amended effective January 1, 2008.)

Rule 8.220 amended effective January 1, 2016; repealed and adopted as rule 17 effective January 1, 2002; previously amended and renumbered as rule 8.220 effective January 1, 2007; previously amended effective January 1, 2008.

Source of truth

Edition
As posted by the Judicial Council of California (read October 22, 2026)
Official file
https://courts.ca.gov/cms/rules/index/eight/rule8_220
Text hash
sha256 cf4a9457ce17422fd9cb269202df394cb3721f155b8a0a7deea83526755e05fc
Composed by
compose_crc.py 2026-10-22: the Judicial Council's rule pages read paragraph by paragraph; verify_crc.py's second reading of the Council's per-title PDFs finds every paragraph

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Procedural information only. Not legal advice and not a substitute for the advice of an attorney. Confirm the current text with the official publisher before relying on it.