(i)

Ex Parte Application. Neither the court nor any judge of the court will conduct an ex parte hearing on an application for relief. (j) Reconsideration, Vacatur, or Modification of an Order or Action. A party seeking to reconsider, vacate, or substantively modify a dispositive order, opinion, or judgment issued by a panel must file a petition for panel, en banc, or panel and en banc rehearing within the time prescribed by Federal Circuit Rule 40(f). For nonsubstantive corrections to a dispositive order, opinion, or judgment, a party may file a motion to correct within fourteen (14) days after the order or action apart from any rehearing petition. For nondispositive orders or actions by the court, including by a single judge, a panel of judges, or the clerk of court, a party must file for relief within fourteen (14) days after the order or action. (k) Motions Containing Confidential or Sealed Material. Federal Circuit Rule 25.1 applies to confidential or sealed material in motions, responses, and replies. PRACTICE NOTES TO RULE 27 Moot Response. A response to a motion for a procedural order that is received after the motion has been acted on is considered moot. Authority to Act on Motions; Motions Referred to Panel. Neither the clerk of court nor the court is required to grant relief just because the parties agree it should be granted. The clerk of court’s authority to act on procedural or unopposed nonprocedural motions includes the authority to grant or deny the requested relief in whole or in part or to refer the motion to a judge or a panel. Examples of procedural motions include motions for extensions of time, motions to reform the caption, motions to withdraw counsel, and motions for leave to proceed in forma pauperis. Examples of nonprocedural motions include motions to dismiss, motions to remand, motions to transfer, motions to summarily affirm, motions for stays of Federal Circuit Rules of Practice (December 1, 2025) Page 101 (Return to Table of Contents) PRACTICE NOTES TO RULE 27 injunctions, motions for injunctions, motions to strike, motions for leave to intervene, motions for leave to file briefs as amici curiae, etc. Motions to exceed the permitted word or page limitation for a brief will be decided by a judge. If the clerk of court grants a motion to extend the time to file a principal brief by sixty (60) days, no further extensions should be anticipated. Once a case is assigned to a merits panel, the clerk of court refers all motions to the merits panel. Telephone Inquiries about Motions; Access to Orders on Website. Telephone inquiries about pending motions are discouraged, and contacting the court will not expedite action on any motion. Most orders are considered routine and counsel will receive notification by Notice of Docket Activity as soon as the motion is decided. Counsel or the parties may determine the status of a motion and obtain copies of court orders through the court’s electronic filing system. Many pertinent orders are posted on the court’s website. Under no circumstances should parties or counsel telephone a judge, a judge’s chambers, or the office of the general counsel about a motion. However, when filing an emergency matter or a motion for expedited consideration, parties or counsel should call the clerk’s office. Motion to Expedite Proceedings. While motions to expedite proceedings are not routinely granted, they may be filed in appropriate cases. A motion for expedited proceedings is the procedural vehicle to request accelerated consideration of an appeal or petition for review, and it should be filed immediately after docketing. Such a motion is appropriate where the normal briefing and disposition schedule may adversely affect one of the parties, as in appeals injunctions or government contract bid protests. involving preliminary or permanent Federal Circuit Rules of Practice (December 1, 2025) Page 102 (Return to Table of Contents) FEDERAL RULE OF APPELLATE PROCEDURE 28 Briefs (a) Appellant’s Brief. The appellant’s brief must contain, under appropriate headings and in the order indicated: (1) (2) (3) a disclosure statement if required by Rule 26.1; a table of contents, with page references; a table of authorities — cases (alphabetically arranged), statutes, and other authorities — with references to the pages of the brief where they are cited; (4) a jurisdictional statement, including: (A) (B) (C) (D) the basis for the district court’s or agency’s subject- matter jurisdiction, with citations to applicable statutory provisions and stating relevant facts establishing jurisdiction; the basis for the court of appeals’ jurisdiction, with citations to applicable statutory provisions and stating relevant facts establishing jurisdiction; the filing dates establishing the timeliness of the appeal or petition for review; and an assertion that the appeal is from a final order or judgment that disposes of all parties’ claims, or information establishing the court of appeals’ jurisdiction on some other basis; a statement of the issues presented for review; a concise statement of the case setting out the facts relevant to the issues submitted for review, describing the relevant procedural history, and identifying the rulings presented for review, with appropriate references to the record (see Rule 28(e)); a summary of the argument, which must contain a succinct, clear, and accurate statement of the arguments made in the body of the brief, and which must not merely repeat the argument headings; (5) (6) (7) (8) the argument, which must contain: Federal Circuit Rules of Practice (December 1, 2025) Page 103 (Return to Table of Contents) FEDERAL RULE OF APPELLATE PROCEDURE 28 (A) (B) appellant’s contentions and the reasons for them, with citations to the authorities and parts of the record on which the appellant relies; and for each issue, a concise statement of the applicable standard of review (which may appear in the discussion of the issue or under a separate heading placed before the discussion of the issues); (9) a short conclusion stating the precise relief sought; and (10) the certificate of compliance, if required by Rule 32(g)(1).* (b) Appellee’s Brief. The appellee’s brief must conform to the requirements of Rule 28(a)(1) – (8) and (10), except that none of the following need appear unless the appellee is dissatisfied with the appellant’s statement: (1) (2) (3) (4) the jurisdictional statement; the statement of the issues; the statement of the case; and the statement of the standard of review.† (c) Reply Brief. The appellant may file a brief in reply to the appellee’s brief. Unless the court permits, no further briefs may be filed. A reply brief must contain a table of contents, with page references, and a table of authorities — cases (alphabetically arranged), statutes, and other *Fed. Cir. R. 28(a) lists the required contents for an appellant’s principal brief, and in some instances, the requirements are merely restated from Fed. R. App. P. 28(a) to preserve the ordering of the materials. Parties must still satisfy the formal requirements for both Fed. R. App. P. 28(a) and Fed. Cir. R. 28(a). Where Fed. Cir. R. 28(a) requires information beyond what is required under Fed. R. App. P. 28(a) for a section or item, parties should follow the greater requirement in the Federal Circuit Rules. The certificate of interest in Fed. Cir. R. 28(a)(1) and certificate of compliance in Fed. Cir. R. 28(a)(13) replace the requirements of Fed. R. App. P. 28(a)(1) and Fed. R. App. P. 28(a)(10), respectively. See Fed. Cir. R. 26.1; Fed. Cir. R. 32(b). †An appellee’s brief must include the contents required under Fed. Cir. R. 28(a). Fed. Cir. R. 28(b) expressly excludes the statements listed under Fed. R. App. P. 28(b) absent disagreement between the parties. Federal Circuit Rules of Practice (December 1, 2025) Page 104 (Return to Table of Contents) FEDERAL RULE OF APPELLATE PROCEDURE 28 authorities — with references to the pages of the reply brief where they are cited. (d) References to Parties. In briefs and at oral argument, counsel should minimize use of the terms “appellant” and “appellee.” To make briefs clear, counsel should use the parties’ actual names or the designations used in the lower court or agency proceeding, or such descriptive terms as “the employee,” “the injured person,” “the taxpayer,” “the ship,” “the stevedore.” (e) References to the Record. References to the parts of the record contained in the appendix filed with the appellant’s brief must be to the pages of the appendix. If the appendix is prepared after the briefs are filed, a party referring to the record must follow one of the methods detailed in Rule 30(c).* If the original record is used under Rule 30(f) and is not consecutively paginated, or if the brief refers to an unreproduced part of the record, any reference must be to the page of the original document. For example:  Answer p. 7;  Motion for Judgment p. 2;  Transcript p. 231. Only clear abbreviations may be used. A party referring to evidence whose admissibility is in controversy must cite the pages of the appendix or of the transcript at which the evidence was identified, offered, and received or rejected. (f) Reproduction of Statutes, Rules, Regulations, etc. If the court’s determination of the issues presented requires the study of statutes, rules, regulations, etc., the relevant parts must be set out in the brief or in an addendum at the end or may be supplied to the court in pamphlet form. *This court defers filing of the appendix but requires preparation of the appendix (“designation of materials”) prior to the filing of appellant’s principal brief. See Fed. Cir. R. 30(b); see also Fed. Cir. R. 28(f) (record and appendix citation requirements). Federal Circuit Rules of Practice (December 1, 2025) Page 105 (Return to Table of Contents) FEDERAL RULE OF APPELLATE PROCEDURE 28 (g) [Reserved] (h) [Reserved] (i) Briefs in a Case Involving Multiple Appellants or Appellees. In a case involving more than one appellant or appellee, including consolidated cases, any number of appellants or appellees may join in a brief, and any party may adopt by reference a part of another’s brief. Parties may also join in reply briefs. (j) Citation of Supplemental Authorities. If pertinent and significant authorities come to a party’s attention after the party’s brief has been filed — or after oral argument but before decision — a party may promptly advise the circuit clerk by letter, with a copy to all other parties, setting forth the citations. The letter must state the reasons for the supplemental citations, referring either to the page of the brief or to a point argued orally. The body of the letter must not exceed 350 words. Any response must be made promptly and must be similarly limited.