This packet contains the forms and instructions needed to start an appeal of a Superior Court case to the Court of Appeals.

The instructions are for informational purposes only and are not legal advice. If you do not understand this information, contact an attorney.

When you ask for an appeal, a higher court will review the decision made by a lower court. In Washington, the lower court is the Superior Court and the higher court is the Court of Appeals. The person who asks for the appeal is called the Appellant. The person who has to defend against the appeal is called the Respondent. 

For the Court of Appeals to take your case it needs a party in the case to: make a request for an appeal, send the Court of Appeals the record of the case, and tell the Court of Appeals what legal mistakes were made in the case, what the correct decision was supposed to be, and why. 

The Notice of Appeal is the document you use to ask the court to review your case. The Designation of Clerk’s Papers and the Statement of Arrangements are the documents you use to give the court the record of your case. The Appellant’s Brief is the document that you write to the court to explain what the law is in your case, what mistakes the Superior Court made about the law in your case, and what the correct decision should have been. 

A person who wants to start an appeal needs to: 

• Complete a Notice of Appeal
• File the Notice of Appeal and pay the filing fee with the Superior Court Clerk
• Serve the Notice of Appeal on the other party
• Have the person who served the Notice of Appeal complete a Certificate of Service
• File the Certificate of Service with the Superior Court Clerk
• Complete a Designation of Clerk’s Papers
• File the Designation of Clerk’s Papers with the Superior Court Clerk
• Complete a Statement of Arrangements
• File the Statement of Arrangements with the Superior Court Clerk

Completion of these steps will start the appeal process. You will then need to write and submit your argument to the Court of Appeals using a document called a “brief.” The steps for briefing are: 

• Complete an Appellant’s Brief
• File the Appellant’s Brief with the Court of Appeals Court Clerk

Once these steps are complete, the other party may respond to your appeal with a document called a Respondent’s Brief and you will then have the option to write and file a Reply Brief to argue against the Respondent’s Brief. 

The legal requirements for requesting an appeal and serving documents on the other party are in the Washington Rules of Appellate Procedure, the Washington Civil Rules, and the King County Local Civil Rules.