Circuit Rule 32.1: Citing Judicial Dispositions

(a) Citation to Published Opinions and to Statutes. Citations to decisions of this court must be to the Federal Reporter. Dual or parallel citation of cases is not required. Citations of state court decisions included in the National Reporter System must be to that system in both the text and the table of authorities. Citations to all federal statutes, including those statutes applicable to the District of Columbia, must refer to the current official code or its supplement, or if there is no current official code, to a current unofficial code or its supplement. Citation to the official session laws is not required unless there is no code citation.

(b) Citation to Unpublished Dispositions.

(1) Unpublished Dispositions of this Court.

(A) Unpublished dispositions entered before January 1, 2002. Unpublished orders or judgments of this court, including explanatory memoranda and sealed dispositions, entered before January 1, 2002, are not to be cited as precedent. Counsel may refer to an unpublished disposition, however, when the binding (i.e., the res judicata or law of the case) or preclusive effect of the disposition, rather than its quality as precedent, is relevant.

(B) Unpublished dispositions entered on or after January 1, 2002. All unpublished orders or judgments of this court, including explanatory memoranda (but not including sealed dispositions), entered on or after January 1, 2002, may be cited as precedent. Counsel should review the criteria governing published and unpublished opinions in Circuit Rule 36, in connection with reliance upon unpublished dispositions of this court.

(2) Unpublished Opinions of Other Courts. Unpublished dispositions of other courts of appeals and district courts entered before January 1, 2007, may be cited when the binding (i.e., the res judicata or law of the case) or preclusive effect of the disposition is relevant. Otherwise, unpublished dispositions of other courts of appeals entered before January 1, 2007, may be cited only under the circumstances and for the purposes permitted by the court issuing the disposition, and unpublished dispositions of district courts entered before that date may not be cited. Unpublished dispositions of other federal courts entered on or after January 1, 2007, may be cited in accordance with FRAP 32.1.

(3) Procedures Governing Citation to Unpublished Dispositions. A copy of each unpublished disposition cited in a brief that is not available in a publicly accessible electronic database must be included in an appropriately labeled addendum to the brief. The addendum may be bound together with the brief, but separated from the body of the brief (and from any other addendum) by a distinctly colored separation page. Any addendum exceeding 40 pages must be bound separately from the brief. If the addendum is bound separately, it must be filed and served concurrently with, and in the same number of copies as, the brief itself.