APP-202-INFO - How to Use Form APP-202 in Limited Civil Cases

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How to Use Form APP-202 in Limited Civil Cases

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Form ID: APP-202-INFO
Title: How to Use Form APP-202 in Limited Civil Cases
Effective Date: 2025-01-01
Mandatory Form: no
Info Page: https://selfhelp.courts.ca.gov/jcc-form/APP-202-INFO
Primary Download URL: https://www.courts.ca.gov/documents/app202info.pdf
Form Detail Page:
How to Use Form APP-202 in Limited Civil Cases
(APP-202-INFO)
Get form APP-202-INFO
Effective: January 1, 2025
Go to
How-to instructions for Appeals
Go to
Appeals Form Packets
PDF Text:
Judicial Council of California, www.courts.ca.gov 
New January 1, 2025, Optional Form  
Code/Rule reference
How to Use Form APP-202 
in Limited Civil Cases
APP-202-INFO How to Use Form APP-202 in Limited Civil Cases 
GENERAL INFORMATION
1 What does this information sheet cover?
This information sheet tells you about how to use 
Appellant’s Reply Brief—Limited Civil Case  (form  
APP-201) to draft a reply brief in a limited civil case.
A “limited civil case” is a civil case that involves an 
amount of $35,000 or less. If your case involves more than 
$35,000, your case is an “unlimited civil case” and you 
cannot use form APP-202. Also, do not use form APP-202 
in a criminal case.
Do not use form APP-202 if a cross-appeal has been filed 
in your case. A cross-appeal is when both parties have filed 
notices of appeal asking to have the trial court’s decision 
reviewed. For more information about briefs where a cross-
appeal has been filed, see California Rules of Court, rule 
8.884.
For information about the appeal process in limited civil 
cases in general, you should read Information on Appeal 
Procedures for Limited Civil Cases (form APP-101-INFO). 
To learn even more, you should read rules 8.800–8.845 and 
8.880–8.891 of the California Rules of Court, which set out 
the procedures for appeals in limited civil cases. You can 
get this form and these rules at any courthouse or county 
law library or online at www.courts.ca.gov/rules and 
www.courts.ca.gov/forms.
2 What is an appeal?
An appeal is a request to a higher court to review a 
decision made by a judge or jury in a lower court. In a 
limited civil case, the court hearing the appeal is the 
appellate division of the superior court, and the lower court 
—called the “trial court” in this information sheet and in 
the form briefs—is the superior court.
If you are the party appealing (asking for the trial court’s 
decision to be reviewed), you are called the appellant. If 
you received notice that another party in the case is 
appealing, you are called the respondent.
3 What is a brief?
A “brief” is a written document that tells the appellate 
division (the court reviewing your case): 
The facts in the case;
The law that applies; and
The party’s arguments about the issues being appealed.
If you are the appellant, you will file the first brief, called 
an “opening brief.” If you are the respondent, after the 
appellant files the opening brief, you will have the chance 
to file the “respondent’s brief” to respond to the appellant’s 
arguments in the opening brief. Finally, if the respondent 
files a respondent’s brief, the appellant will then have the 
chance to file a “reply brief” to reply to the respondent’s 
arguments. The reply brief is the final brief unless the 
appellate division orders further briefing.
4 Preparing a brief
If you are represented by a lawyer in your appeal, your 
lawyer will prepare your brief. If you are not represented 
by a lawyer, you will have to prepare your brief yourself. 
If you are the appellant, Appellant’s Opening Brief—
Limited Civil Case (form APP-200) may be used to prepare 
your opening brief. The information sheet How to Use 
Form APP-200 in Limited Civil Cases (form                         
APP-200-INFO) explains how to fill out form APP-200.  
If you are the respondent, Respondent’s Brief—Limited 
Civil Case (form APP-201) may be used to prepare your 
respondent’s brief. The information sheet How to Use 
Form APP-201 in Limited Civil Cases (form                        
APP-201-INFO) explains how to fill out form APP-201.
If you are the appellant, and you would like to use a form 
to prepare your reply brief, you can use Appellant’s Reply 
Brief—Limited Civil Case  (form APP-202). This 
information sheet explains how to fill out form APP-202.    
You or your lawyer do not need to use these forms for your 
briefs. If you choose to draft your own brief, read 
California Rules of Court, rules 8.882–8.884 to learn about 
what your brief must contain, how it must be formatted, 
and how and when it must be served and filed.
APP-202-INFO, Page 1 of 3

New January 1, 2025, Optional Form How to Use Form APP-202 
in Limited Civil Cases
APP-202-INFO How to Use Form APP-202 in Limited Civil Cases 
INFORMATION ABOUT FILLING OUT 
APPELLANT'S REPLY BRIEF— 
LIMITED CIVIL CASE (FORM APP-202)
If you are the appellant and the respondent filed a 
respondent’s brief, that brief contained arguments that 
responded to your opening brief. You now have the 
opportunity to file an “appellant’s reply brief,” which 
replies to those arguments made in the respondent’s brief. 
You or your lawyer may use Appellant’s Reply Brief—
Limited Civil Case (form APP-202) for this purpose. This 
section describes how to fill out that form.
You do not need to file a reply brief unless you want to. If 
you choose to file a reply brief, it will be the final brief 
filed in the case, unless the appellate division chooses to 
order additional briefing.
5 Attachments, format, and length
Form APP-202 has spaces for you to give information or 
answer questions. If any of these spaces are not big enough 
and you need more space for your response to an item, you 
may check the box in that item stating that you need more 
space. After you check the box, you may continue your 
answer on a separate sheet of paper labeled “Attachment” 
followed by the item number you are filling out. For 
example, an attachment continuing your response to item 4 
would be labeled “Attachment 4” at the top of the page. 
The separate sheets of paper used to continue your answers 
and the proof of service are the only attachments that may 
be included with your brief. Do not attach any other 
documents.
You should format your brief and attachments as follows:
The attachments must be on white paper, 8.5 inches by 
11 inches in size, with 1.5-inch margins on the left and 
right and 1-inch margins on the top and bottom.
In typing the brief and attachments, you may use any 
standard font, but the font must not be smaller than 13 
points. 
You should use normal typeface, but italics, boldface 
type, or underscores can be used for emphasis. Case 
names must also be in italics or underscored. 
If you file the brief in paper form, you should bind the 
brief on the left margin, unless the appellate division has 
a local rule requiring the brief to be bound on the top.
All attachments need to be included at the end of form 
APP-202 in the order of the attachment number. For 
example, you would put Attachment 4 after Attachment 
3. You then need to number the pages of all the 
attachments in order, starting with page 4 (because the 
actual form is 3 pages long).
Your reply brief, including the form and any attachments, 
may be no longer than 25 pages.
6 Completing the caption (the top part of 
the form)
Name of the parties on appeal. At the top left of the form, 
fill out the name of each party appealing the trial court’s 
decision and the name of each party who is a respondent in 
the appeal.  
Appellate division case number. When you filed the notice 
of appeal in your case, the clerk gave the appeal a case 
number. You can find this number on the notice of briefing 
schedule or another document about your case sent to you 
by the clerk of the appellate division. Write that number in 
the box entitled  “Appellate Division Case Number.”
Trial court case number and trial court judicial officer. 
Write the case number your case had in the trial court here. 
You can find this number on any court order from the trial 
court. Also write the name of the trial court judge or other 
judicial officer who made the decision you are appealing.
7 Completing item 1, "Information About 
the Appellant"
In item 1a, type your name. If you are a lawyer filling this 
out for your client, type your name, State Bar number, and 
the name of your law firm.
In item 1b, type your address and contact information if 
you do not have a lawyer. If you are a lawyer filling out 
this form for your client, write your office address, 
telephone number, fax number (if applicable), and email 
address.
APP-202-INFO, Page 2 of 3

New January 1, 2025, Optional Form How to Use Form APP-202 
in Limited Civil Cases
APP-202-INFO How to Use Form APP-202 in Limited Civil Cases 
8 Completing item 2, "Replying to 
Respondent's Arguments"
Item 2 is your opportunity to reply to the responses made 
by the respondent in the respondent’s brief. 
Form APP-202 has items for you to reply to the 
respondent’s first two arguments. If the respondent’s brief 
contained more than two arguments, check the box at item 
2c, and reply to the other arguments on a separate piece of 
paper labeled “Attachment 2c” at the top of the page.
For each reply, begin by briefly describing the 
respondent’s argument to which you are replying. Then, 
give your reply explaining why the respondent’s arguments 
are incorrect. Your reply brief should not simply repeat the 
arguments you made in the opening brief. Instead, your 
reply arguments can do the following:
Address legal issues and arguments made in the 
respondent’s brief.
Show the appellate division how the respondent did not 
successfully address the legal issues made in the 
appellant’s opening brief.
Address new legal authorities (cases, statutes, or 
constitutional provisions) included in the respondent’s 
brief.
For each of your reply arguments, you must clearly identify 
the following: 
The places in the record on appeal where the facts that 
support your argument can be found.
The law that supports your argument. This can take the 
form of statutes, court opinions, court rules, 
constitutional provisions, or other legal authority. You 
may find law that supports your appeal mentioned in the 
documents filed by the parties in the trial court or in the 
trial court’s decisions.
9 Serving and Filing Your Brief
After you have completed your brief, make copies of the 
brief (with all attachments) for your records, each of the 
other parties in the case, and the trial court. 
Serve a copy of the completed form (with all attachments) 
on each of the other parties and the trial court, and keep 
proof of this service. There are two forms you may use to 
show proof of service:
Proof of Service (form APP-109); or
Proof of Electronic Service (form APP-109E).
You can get more information about how to serve court 
papers and proof of service from What is Proof of Service 
(form APP-109-INFO) and on the Self-Help Guide to the 
California Courts website at 
After you have served copies of the brief on the other 
parties and the trial court, file the original brief and all 
attachments, along with the proof of service, with the 
appellate division.
APP-202-INFO, Page 3 of 3

Retrieval chunks

• #1

  Form ID: APP-202-INFO Title: How to Use Form APP-202 in Limited Civil Cases Effective Date: 2025-01-01 Mandatory Form: no Info Page: https://selfhelp.courts.ca.gov/jcc-form/APP-202-INFO Primary Download URL: https://www.courts.ca.gov/documents/app202info.pdf Form Detail Page: How to Use Form APP-202 in Limited …

• #2

  you received notice that another party in the case is appealing, you are called the respondent. 3 What is a brief? A “brief” is a written document that tells the appellate division (the court reviewing your case): The facts in the case; The law that applies; and The party’s arguments about the issues being appe…

• #3

  responded to your opening brief. You now have the opportunity to file an “appellant’s reply brief,” which replies to those arguments made in the respondent’s brief. You or your lawyer may use Appellant’s Reply Brief— Limited Civil Case (form APP-202) for this purpose. This section describes how to fill out that f…

• #4

  fill out the name of each party appealing the trial court’s decision and the name of each party who is a respondent in the appeal. Appellate division case number. When you filed the notice of appeal in your case, the clerk gave the appeal a case number. You can find this number on the notice of briefing schedule…

• #5

  For each of your reply arguments, you must clearly identify the following: The places in the record on appeal where the facts that support your argument can be found. The law that supports your argument. This can take the form of statutes, court opinions, court rules, constitutional provisions, or other legal au…