Article by Sylvia H. Walbolt and Nicholas A. Brown1

Originally published by the Florida Bar

In November 2007, an article titled "Off the Record," which was co-authored by one of this article's authors, was published in this Journal.2 It began by saying "[e]very good appellate lawyer knows that an appeal is constrained by the record formed below."3 It quoted a 1988 decision of the First District reprimanding a lawyer who sought to "amend" the record to include matters not before the trial court, and declaring in this regard that the fact "an appellate court may not consider matters outside the record is so elemental there is no excuse for an attorney to attempt to bring such matters before the court."4

The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.

It is a new world today, however, and we appellate lawyers had better recognize that. Appellate courts not only are not sanctioning lawyers for seeking to supplement the record with matters not in the record below, appellate courts are granting such motions and adding such materials to the appellate record.5

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Republished with permission from the Florida Bar.

The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.