Minn. R. Civ. App. P. 125

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Below is Rule 125 of the Minnesota Rules of Civil Appellate Procedure. Rule 125 deals with Filing and Service, and is indexed under TITLE VII. GENERAL PROVISIONS.

125.01 Filing

Papers required or authorized by these rules shall be filed with the clerk of the appellate courts within the time limitations contained in the applicable rule. Filing may be accomplished by United States Mail addressed to the clerk of the appellate courts, but filing shall not be timely unless the papers are deposited in the mail within the time fixed for filing. Filing may be accomplished by use of a commercial courier service, and shall be effective upon receipt by the clerk of the appellate courts. Filing by facsimile or other electronic means is not allowed in the appellate courts, except with express leave of the court.

If a motion or petition requests relief that may be granted by a single judge, the judge may accept the document for filing, in which event the date of filing shall be noted on it and it shall be thereafter transmitted to the clerk. All papers filed shall include the attorney registration license number of counsel filing the paper and, if filed subsequent to the notice of appeal, shall specify the appellate court docket number.

125.02 Service and Filing of All Papers Required

Copies of all papers filed by any party shall be served by that party, at or before the time of filing, on all other parties to the appeal or review. Papers shall be filed with the clerk of the appellate courts at the time of service or immediately thereafter. Service on a party represented by counsel shall be made on the attorney.

125.03 Manner of Service

Service may be personal or by United States Mail. Personal service includes delivery of a copy of the document to the attorney or other responsible person in the office of the attorney, or to the party, if not represented by counsel, in any manner provided by Rule 4, Minnesota Rules of Civil Procedure. Service by United States Mail is complete on mailing; however, whenever a party is required or permitted to do an act within a prescribed period after service and the paper is served by United States Mail, 3 days shall be added to the prescribed period. Personal service may be effected by use of a commercial courier service, and it shall be effective upon receipt. Service by facsimile or other electronic means is allowed only with the consent of the party to be served, and is effective upon receipt.

125.04 Proof of Service

Papers presented for filing shall contain either a written admission of service or an affidavit of service. Proof of service may appear on or be affixed to the papers filed. The clerk of the appellate courts may permit papers to be filed without proof of service, but shall require proof of service to be filed promptly after filing the papers.

(Amended effective January 1, 2009.)

Comment - 1983

The filing of all papers must be made within the time designated in the applicable rule.

Filing by mail addressed to the clerk of the appellate courts is authorized but must be accomplished by deposit in the mail, first class postage prepaid, within the designated time period. To the extent practical, all papers shall include the appellate court docket number and attorney registration license numbers.

The clerk of the appellate courts is not authorized to file any papers unless and until the appropriate fee has been paid (Minnesota Statutes, section 357.08 (1983)) or the documents are accompanied by a written statement of the reason no fee is required.

Proof of service must be filed with the clerk of the appellate courts at the time the notice, petition or motion is filed or immediately thereafter.

Advisory Committee Comment - 2008 Amendment

Rules 125.01 and .03 are amended to make clear the intent of the existing rule: that service and filing “by mail” under the rules requires use of the United States Mail. This clarification parallels a similar set of amendments to the Minnesota Rules of Civil Procedure. Compare Minn. R. Civ. P. 6.05 (amended in 2007 to specify U.S. Mail) with Minn. R. Civ. P. 4.05 (historically requiring use of first-class mail). The rule also makes it clear that it is permissible to use Federal Express, UPS, or other commercial courier for both filing and service, but delivery by that means is treated as any other hand delivery, and effective only upon receipt. Additional time for response to service by these services is thus neither required nor provided for, because the response period begins to run at the time of receipt.

These rules are also amended to make it clear that neither service nor filing by facsimile are ordinarily allowed in the appellate courts. In exigent circumstances the courts may request that courtesy copies of papers be provided by facsimile, but originals must be filed as provided in Rule 125.01. Service by facsimile is not generally permitted by rule, but if a party agrees to be served by facsimile it is permissible under the amended rule and is effective upon receipt. This provision recognizes that service by facsimile may be cost-effective and convenient for motions, notices, and other papers; it is unlikely to be used for briefs and appendices. The scope of any agreement to consent to service by facsimile should be carefully defined; it will be the unusual appeal where the parties really want their agreement to extend to the briefs and any appendices. The extension of this provision to service “by other electronic means” is intended to permit service by electronic mail, again only where the party to be served has agreed to it for the type of document involved.