Tuesday, July 3, 2018

Get the record in order, please!

Here's an unpub'd decision from the Third, that has a "Preliminary Observations" section that reads as follows:
Image result for get organizedThe record in a summary judgment appeal should contain: (1) the operative complaint and answer, which identify the disputed issues; (2) the moving, opposing, and reply papers, including the separate statements of fact and supporting evidence (with any relevant evidentiary disputes); (3) the trial court’s ruling (and--if important--a transcript of the argument on the motion); (4) the judgment; and (5) the notice of appeal.
Here, the first page of the clerk’s transcript is the motion for summary judgment. The operative complaint appears at page 642 of the clerk’s transcript, and is mislabeled as a response to a request for admissions that was purportedly an exhibit to a deposition. We have searched the record in vain for the answer to the complaint, but apparently appellant failed to designate this critical document.
     This unorthodox way of preparing the record as arranged for by appellant, coupled with irregularities in the briefing by both parties, is not helpful to this court.