Legal Question in Appeals and Writs in Colorado

Re: Appellate Court procrastinates deciding motions?

The Court of Appeal does not decide either motions or applications in the same manner as a trial court would. It can rule on the motion immediately, wait until opposition is filed, or wait several months before ruling. Often, if the issue raised by the motion can be easily decided (for example, a request to augment the record, at an early stage in the appeal), the ruling is very quick, a matter of days. Also, if the issue can be dispositive of the appeal itself (such as a motion to dismiss on the basis that the court of appeal lacks jurisdiction), the matter will be decided summarily or - in rare situtations - with a request for briefing.

However, with matters that are raised that are central to the appeal (such as requests that the court of appeal take judicial notice of a document), the court routinely reserves ruling until the appeal itself is decided.

In addition, the court of appeal always has the discretion to dispose of the motion in any manner it chooses, i.e. by brief, order, oral argument, etc. There is no set procedure. Generally, motions are not set for argument and are decided on the briefs. (However, sometimes, motions to dismiss are set for argument, as the result may be the functional equivalent of a dispositive ruling. But these are rare.)

The landscape of the appeal process is full of procedural and substantive potholes and landmines. In light of this, many parties to an appeal (both appellant and respondent) retain an experienced appellate litigator familiar with not only the rules of procedure but also the substantive issues which are inherent with an appeal.

If you do not already have counsel, you should consider one. We are experienced civil litigators with a solid track record at both the trial and appellate levels. If/when you would like to discuss the matter, please feel free to call or email.

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Re: Appellate Court procrastinates deciding motions?

The court doesn't want to waste its time reviewing the record twice, so if the motion requires essentially a review of all or most of it, a decision will be deferred until the appeal itself. That way the workload is balanced and the court can do whatever it wishes with the case. A request for judicial notice is a different kind of a motion, and since it is probably for the appeal itself (if for the motion to dismiss it should have been filed along with the motion, the court will get to it when they read the record and see what the case is about and whether the RJN is necessary.

This is by case law, not court rule. And the trial court rules are not the same as the rules on appeal. Appeals are a little different so experience counts.