5th Cir. R. 31.1 — Briefs - Number of Copies: Computer Generated Briefs

High confidence· verified September 26, 2026Local Rules

Summary

5th Cir. R. 31.1 — Briefs - Number of Copies: Computer Generated Briefs: the court's own rule, verbatim from RULES and INTERNAL OPERATING PROCEDURES OF THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FIFTH CIRCUIT (December 2025), official PDF, sha-custodied. Court-level requirement: applies to appeals in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit alongside the Federal Rules of Appellate Procedure.

Requirement

Only 7 paper copies of briefs need be filed. Where a party is represented by counsel who is exempt from electronic filing under 5TH CIR. R. 25.2, and counsel generates his or her brief by computer, the party also must submit an electronic version of the brief to the court. The filing party must serve unrepresented parties and counsel for separately represented parties in accordance with FED. R. APP. P. 31(b), and also must serve an electronic version of the brief on each party separately represented. However, the parties may agree in writing to waive service of paper copies of the brief and to be served with an electronic copy only. Electronic service may be in a form agreed to in writing by the parties, or by the same means as submitted to the court. The electronic copy of the brief must be filed on a CD, computer diskette, or such other electronic medium as the clerk may authorize. The electronic version must: be prepared in a single Portable Document Format (PDF) file. (Briefs scanned into PDF are not acceptable); contain nothing other than the brief; have as the first page of the electronic file a brief cover page as required by FED. R. APP. P. 32(a)(2). If submitted on a CD, diskette, or other authorized physical media, the electronic version must have a label containing the case name and docket number, and identifying the brief as the appellant’s, appellee’s, etc. The proof of service must comply with FED. R. APP. P. 25(d)(1)(B) & (2).

Source of truth

Only 7 paper copies of briefs need be filed. Where a party is represented by counsel who is exempt from electronic filing under 5TH CIR. R. 25.2, and counsel generates his or her brief by computer, the party also must submit an electronic version of the brief to the court. The fi

Official source: U.S. Court of Appeals — Fifth Circuit (Rules & Procedures)
Source health: Healthy · checked October 4, 2026
Effective date: —
Last verified: September 26, 2026benchpath-appfed-rules-2026-09-25

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