FILING AND SERVICE
Rule 2185. Service and Filing of Briefs.
(a) Time for Serving and Filing Briefs.
(1) General Rule. Except as otherwise provided by this rule, the appellant shall serve and file appellant’s brief not later than the date fixed pursuant to subdivision (b) or within 40 days after the date on which the record is filed, if no other date is so fixed. The appellee shall serve and file appellee’s brief within 30 days after service of appellant’s brief and reproduced record if proceeding under Pa.R.A.P. 2154(a) (general rule). A party may serve and file a reply brief permitted by these rules within 14 days after service of the preceding brief but, except for good cause shown, a reply brief must be served and filed so as to be received at least three days before argument. In cross-appeals, the brief of the designated appellant required by Pa.R.A.P. 2136(b)(3) shall be served and filed within 30 days of service of the brief of the designated appellee required by Pa.R.A.P. 2136(b)(2). Except as prescribed by Pa.R.A.P. 2187(b)(3) (advance text of briefs), each brief shall be filed not later than the last day fixed by or pursuant to this rule for its service. Briefs shall be deemed filed on the date of mailing if first class, express, or priority United States Postal Service mail is utilized.
(2) Children’s Fast Track Appeals.
(i) In a children’s fast track appeal, the appellant shall serve and file appellant’s brief within 30 days after the date on which the record is filed, if no other date is so fixed. The appellee shall serve and file appellee’s brief within 21 days after service of appellant’s brief and reproduced record. A party may serve and file a reply brief permitted by these rules within seven days after service of the preceding brief but, except for good cause shown, a reply brief must be served and filed so as to be received at least three days before argument. In cross-appeals, the brief of the designated appellant required by Pa.R.A.P. 2136(b)(3) shall be served and filed within 21 days of service of the brief of the designated appellee required by Pa.R.A.P. 2136(b)(2). Briefs shall be deemed filed on the date of mailing if first class, express, or priority United States Postal Service mail is utilized.
(ii) In a children’s fast track appeal, the provisions of subdivisions (b) and (c) shall not apply.
(3) Multiple Briefs for Appellants or Appellees. If the time for filing a brief is established by reference to service of a preceding brief and more than one such preceding brief is filed, the deadline for filing the subsequent brief shall be calculated from the date on which the last timely filed preceding brief is served. If no such preceding brief is filed, the deadline for a subsequent brief shall be calculated from the date on which the preceding brief should have been filed.
(b) Notice of Deferred Briefing Schedule. When the record is filed, the prothonotary of the appellate court shall estimate the date on which the matter will be argued before or submitted to the court, having regard for the nature of the case and the status of the calendar of the court. If the prothonotary determines that the matter will probably not be reached by the court for argument or submission within 30 days after the latest date on which the last brief could be filed under the usual briefing schedule established by these rules, the prothonotary shall fix a specific calendar date as the last date for the filing of the brief of the appellant in the matter, and shall give notice thereof as required by these rules. The date so fixed by the prothonotary shall be such that the latest date on which the last brief in the matter could be filed under these rules will fall approximately 30 days before the probable date of argument or submission of the matter.
(c) Definitive Copies. If the record is being reproduced pursuant to Pa.R.A.P. 2154(b) (large records), the brief served pursuant to subdivision (a) may be typewritten or page proof copies of the brief, with appropriate references to pages of the parts of the original record involved. Within 14 days after the reproduced record is filed, each party who served briefs in advance form under this subdivision shall serve and file definitive copies of the party’s brief or briefs containing references to the pages of the reproduced record in place of or in addition to the initial references to the pages of the parts of the original record involved (see Pa.R.A.P. 2132 (references in briefs to the record)). No other changes may be made in the briefs as initially served, except that typographical errors may be corrected.
Comment: Pa.R.A.P. 2185(a) recognizes that in cross-appeals the designated appellant’s second brief is more extensive than a reply brief and, therefore, may require more than 14 days to prepare. See Pa.R.A.P. 2136 (briefs in cases involving cross-appeals).
Subdivision (a)(3) clarifies practice in an appeal in which there is more than one appellant or appellee and all appellants or all appellees do not file their briefs on the same date. For example, if there are two appellants and one files early or one is granted an extension of time to file, the two briefs for appellants will not be filed or served on the same date. Subdivision (a)(3) makes clear when the appellee’s 30-day period to file its brief begins. The same issue can arise with respect to the appellant’s time for filing its reply brief when there are two or more appellees. Subdivision (a)(3) clarifies the point by starting the period on the date on which the latest, timely filed preceding brief is served.
Historical Commentary The following commentary is historical in nature and represents statements of the Committee at the time of rulemaking:
Explanatory Comment—1979 The principal criticism of the new Appellate Rules has been the provisions for deferred preparation of the reproduced record, and the resulting procedure for the filing of advance copies of briefs (since the page citations to the reproduced record pages are not then available) followed by the later preparation and filing of definitive briefs with citations to the reproduced record pages. It has been argued that in the typical state court appeal the record is quite small, with the result that the pre-1976 practice of reproducing the record in conjunction with the preparation of appellant’s definitive brief is entirely appropriate and would ordinarily be followed if the rules did not imply a preference for the deferred method. The Committee has been persuaded by these comments, and the rules have been redrafted to imply that the deferred method is a secondary method particularly appropriate for longer records.
Also, the number of briefs to be filed under the in forma pauperis procedure has been increased from ten to 15 in the Commonwealth and Superior Courts.
Explanatory Comment—2002 See Comment following Pa.R.A.P., Rule 511.
Source The provisions of this Rule 2185 amended May 16, 1979, effective September 30, 1979, 9 Pa.B. 1740; amended February 27, 1980, 10 Pa.B. 1038, effective as set forth at 10 Pa.B. 1038; amended July 7, 1997, effective in 60 days, 27 Pa.B. 3503; amended October 18, 2002, effective December 2, 2002, 32 Pa.B. 5402; amended September 10, 2008, effective December 1, 2008, 38 Pa.B. 5257; amended January 13, 2009, effective as to all appeals filed 60 days or more after adoption, 39 Pa.B. 1094; amended October 3, 2011, effective in thirty days, 41 Pa.B. 5620; amended July 18, 2024, effective January 1, 2025, 54 Pa.B. 4426. Immediately preceding text appears at serial pages (390005) to (390007).
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