L.A.R. 26.1.1: Disclosure of Corporate Affiliations and Financial Interest

(a) Promptly after the notice of appeal is filed, each corporation that is a party to an appeal, whether in a civil, bankruptcy, or criminal case, must file a corporate affiliate/financial interest disclosure statement on a form provided by the clerk that identifies every publicly owned corporation with which it is affiliated but which is not named in the appeal. The form must be completed whether or not the corporation has anything to report.

(b) Every party to an appeal must identify on the disclosure statement required by FRAP 26.1 every publicly owned corporation not a party to the appeal, if any, that has a financial interest in the outcome of the litigation and the nature of that interest. The form must be completed only if a party has something to report under this section.

(c) In all bankruptcy appeals, counsel for the debtor or trustee of the bankruptcy estate must promptly file with the clerk a list identifying (1) the debtor, if not named in the caption, (2) the members of the creditors' committees or the top 20 unsecured creditors, and (3) any entity not named in the caption which is an active participant in the proceeding. If the debtor or trustee of the bankruptcy estate is not a party, the appellant must file this list with the clerk.

(d) In criminal appeals, the government must file a disclosure statement if an organization is a victim of the crime. If the organizational victim is a corporation, the statement must also identify any parent corporation and any publicly held corporation that owns 10% or more of its stock to the extent it can be obtained through due diligence. The government may seek to be relieved from the requirements of this rule by filing a motion demonstrating that compliance is impossible.

The rule was revised and subsection (c) was added in 1995. Prior Court Rule 25 imposed an obligation upon all parties to civil or bankruptcy cases and all corporate defendants in criminal cases to file a corporate affiliate/financial interest disclosure statement. 3d Cir. L.A.R. 26.1.1(a) limits that obligation to corporate parties only. The rule also provides that the statement must be filed promptly after the notice of appeal is filed, and must be made on a form provided by the clerk. 3d Cir. L.A.R. 26.1.1(b) retains the requirement that every party to an appeal disclose the identity of every publicly owned corporation, not a party to an appeal, that has a financial interest in the outcome of the litigation. The rule also specifies that, under these circumstances, a negative report need not be filed. “In writing” was deleted in 2008 to provide for electronic filing of the notices. Subsection d was added in 2011 to adopt similar provisions of Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 12.4.