Rule 6.1004 Limited remands

Here's a plain English summary of this rule:

Sometimes an appeals court needs to send a case back to the lower court for a specific task, while the appeal is still going on. This is called a "limited remand." Either the appeals court itself or one of the parties in the case can request this. The appeals court decides exactly what the lower court is allowed to do during this temporary return.

Even though the case goes back to the district court for this specific task, the appeals court keeps control over the overall appeal. The district court only handles the narrow issue it's been told to address, then the case's future stays with the appeals court.

If you want to ask for a limited remand, you need to file your request quickly. As soon as you realize there's a reason to send the case back to the lower court, you should file your motion right away. Waiting too long could hurt your chances of getting this request approved.