PART IV — ELECTRONIC FILING, SERVICE, FEES, PRIVACY, AND DOCUMENT FORM
Rule 36. Technical form of documents
Presumptive format
A filing document must be a text-searchable PDF unless a Rule, technical standard, or order permits another format. The document must open without a password, execute no active code, and permit ordinary text selection and accessibility processing.
Size
No individual document may exceed 50 megabytes. A larger item must be compressed, divided into clearly numbered volumes, or lodged by leave under Rule 39. A filing may contain multiple documents, but unnecessary fragmentation is prohibited.
Page and type
Unless an Appendix, native exhibit, or Court form requires otherwise:
page size must be 8.5 by 11 inches;
margins must be at least one inch;
body text must use 12-point Century Schoolbook, Century, Georgia, Cambria, Times New Roman, or another comparably readable serif typeface;
body text must be spaced at least 1.5 lines;
footnotes may use 10-point type and single spacing;
block quotations, tables, headings, and captions may be single spaced;
pages after the cover must be consecutively numbered; and
text and images must be clear at ordinary zoom.
Footnotes must not be used to evade length limits or bury substantive argument.
Native and image exhibits
PNG, JPG, JPEG, TXT, audio, video, or another native format may be used for an exhibit when necessary to preserve evidentiary meaning. A filing must include a PDF index and, when practicable, a static or transcribed version. DOC and DOCX files are not accepted as operative briefs unless the Court orders.
File names
A file name must identify the case or party, document type, and volume, and must not contain credentials, private data, misleading extensions, or executable commands. Example: RSPC-APPEAL-1234_Appellant-Brief.pdf.
Document builder
The Court’s document builder may be used to compose and check a filing, but downloading a builder output does not file it. Unless an order requires use of a specific form, the builder is optional and its compliance result does not bind the Clerk or Court.
Emergency filing
An emergency application may use a simpler format if necessary, but it must remain legible and include the case, filer, relief requested, facts establishing urgency, signature, and service statement. The Court may require a conforming PDF after immediate relief is addressed.