The California Court of Appeal Step by Step

Civil Appellate Practices and Procedures for the Self-Represented

This manual describes in simple terms the civil appellate process and the related California Rules of Court that are in effect as of the date at the bottom of the page in each chapter. The manual is intended for persons who represent themselves (also called “self-represented litigants” and those “in pro per” or “in pro se”) and attorneys with little or no appellate experience who are bringing civil appeals to the California Court of Appeal, Fourth Appellate District, Division One, which has jurisdiction over appeals from San Diego and Imperial Counties. The manual does not cover criminal or juvenile dependency appeals.

The materials included here are not legal advice and may not be used as legal authority. The primary legal authority for the practices described in this manual is the California Rules of Court. (The California Rules of Court are sometimes referred to in this manual as "CRC," for example, "CRC rule 8.108.") The manual does not replace or supersede the California Rules of Court. It is merely a general summary of the applicable rules. The rules themselves are subject to change, and you should consult them directly. In the event the information here differs from the California Rules of Court, you must follow the California Rules of Court.

All of the forms referred to in this manual are included in the final section entitled "Sample Forms and Instructions", along with instructions for filling them out. Many of the sample forms in this manual (Sample Forms A, D, E, F, J, Q, S, T, U) are also available online in Adobe Acrobat format (PDF) and may be filled out electronically for free here (where they are labeled as forms APP-002 through APP-007, FW-001-INFO, FW-001 and FW-003). A more abbreviated description of the civil appeal process (form APP-001) is also available.

You may download the entire manual or you may view individual sections below. For help with PDFs, see our instructions on saving, filling, or printing PDFs.   

The California Court of Appeal - Step by Step

Chapters 

Sample Forms and Instructions

Appendices

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Last modified: Monday, 5-Feb-2019 15:33:33 PST