Also known as: affiled · affilare · file · put on record
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
To submit a document to a court clerk for placement in the official case record.
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Anchor Bank is sued in state court by a borrower alleging improper foreclosure. Thirty days after service, the bank prepares a notice stating federal diversity jurisdiction and attaches the complaint and summons. The bank affiles the notice in the local federal district court, shifting the case out of state court.
Alice Atkins sues Apollo Energy for breach of a supply contract. Her attorney drafts the complaint and places the federal district court's name, the parties' full names, the file number, and the Rule 7(a) designation in the caption. She then affiles the document with the clerk to commence the action.
After a jury awards Anthony Arnold $10 million in punitive damages against Alliance Holdings, the insurer moves to reduce the award. The insurer affiles the motion and the court later issues an opinion applying constitutional limits on punitive damages to the facts of the case.
Austin Abbott petitions for review of an EPA regulation. The environmental group affiles its brief in the court of appeals, arguing that the agency failed to follow required procedures when adopting the rule.
Audrey Ashton, defending a products-liability suit, receives a discovery request for interview notes. She affiles a motion for protective order, asserting that the notes were prepared in anticipation of litigation.
Alan Ackerman, a bakery owner, challenges a state labor statute limiting work hours. He affiles a complaint in federal court claiming the law violates his liberty of contract under the Fourteenth Amendment.
The notice must be signed under Rule 11 and include a short plain statement of the grounds plus copies of all process, pleadings, and orders served on the defendant.
The caption must list every party on the complaint. Later pleadings may shorten the caption after naming the first party on each side.
A court may allow a party to affile a supplemental pleading asserting a counterclaim that matured after the earlier pleading was served.
…with law." [^maj-5]: As a condition of the sequestration order, both the plaintiff and the sequestrator were required to file bonds of $1,000 to assure their compliance with the orders of the court. App. 24. Following a technical amendment of the complaint, the original sequestration order was vacated and…