§ 2-102. Court of Appeals.
(A) Nebraska Supreme Court Rules to Apply. Unless otherwise specified, the Nebraska Court Rules of Appellate Practice shall apply to the Nebraska Court of Appeals.
(B) Petition to Bypass. Any party to a case appealed to the Court of Appeals may file with the Supreme Court a petition to transfer the appeal to the Supreme Court and to bypass review by the Court of Appeals. The petition to bypass shall be filed simultaneously with the initial brief of the party. Such petition shall set forth the basis for the petition, including one or more of the factors set out in Neb. Rev. Stat. § 24-1106(2).
(1) Form, Filing, and Service of Petition to Bypass. The form of the petition shall be as provided in § 2-103(A). A petition to bypass shall not exceed 1,800 words, and shall be filed with the Clerk. Service and proof of service shall be in accordance with Neb. Ct. R. Pldg. §§ 6-1105(b), 6-1106(e), and Neb. Ct. R. § 2-205.
(2) Response. Any response to the petition to bypass shall be due when the brief of the responding party is filed or, when no reply brief is filed, before the expiration of the time prescribed for such filing as provided by § 2-109(A)(3). Such response shall not exceed 1,800 words. The response shall be filed with the Clerk and served in accordance with Neb. Ct. R. Pldg. §§ 6-1105(b), 6-1106(e), and Neb. Ct. R. § 2-205. Any response by a party shall respond to the petition to bypass and not to a response filed by another party. No response by the petitioning party shall be allowed to a response filed by any other party.
(3) Oral Argument. No oral argument is permitted on the petition to bypass except as may be ordered by the Supreme Court; in such event, oral argument shall be limited to 5 minutes per side.
(4) Submission. All petitions to bypass shall be submitted for decision to the Supreme Court on the filing of appellant's reply brief or the expiration of the time prescribed for such filing as provided by § 2-109(A)(3).
(5) Briefs Not Required. No separate brief in support or opposition is required for a petition to bypass or response to a petition to bypass. If any such brief is filed, the brief in support or opposition shall be included within the word count set forth in § 2-102(B)(1) or (2).
(C) Removal of Case From Court of Appeals. At any time during the pendency of a case, upon recommendation of the Court of Appeals or by the Supreme Court's own motion, the Supreme Court may order removal of a case from the Court of Appeals and its transfer to the Supreme Court docket.
(D) Briefs. Briefs to be filed in the Court of Appeals shall be governed by §§ 2-103 and 2-109.
(1) Release of Written Opinions. The Court of Appeals will prepare a written opinion in cases where the court believes explanation of its decision is required or that the case is of value as a precedent. Opinions shall be released as ordered by the court.
(2) A copy of each opinion shall be provided to the parties as set forth in § 2-112(B).
(a) Official opinions of the Court of Appeals approved for publication in a permanent bound volume shall be the final, edited version which appears in bound Volumes 1 through 15 of the Nebraska Appellate Reports.
(b) Official opinions of the Court of Appeals approved for publication shall be the final, edited version which appear as certified on the Nebraska Appellate Courts Online Library for Volume 16 and all volumes thereafter of the Nebraska Appellate Reports.
(c) Official opinions of the Court of Appeals not designated for permanent publication shall be the final version which is filed with the Clerk.
(4) Opinions of the Court of Appeals which the deciding panel has designated as "For Permanent Publication" may be cited in all courts and tribunals in the State of Nebraska. Other opinions and memorandum opinions of the Court of Appeals may be cited only if the opinion has persuasive value on a material issue and no published opinion of the Court of Appeals or another court would serve as well or when such case is related, by identity between the parties or the causes of action, to the case then before the court. When citing an unpublished opinion of the Court of Appeals, a party shall indicate the opinion's unpublished status.
(5) Opinions of the Court of Appeals which the deciding panel has designated as "For Permanent Publication" shall be followed as precedent by the courts and tribunals inferior to the Court of Appeals until such opinion is modified, overruled, or disapproved by the Nebraska Supreme Court.
(6) The panel of the Court of Appeals deciding a case may designate its opinion as "For Permanent Publication" only when one or more of the criteria set in Neb. Rev. Stat. § 24-1104(2) is satisfied.
(F) Petition for Further Review by Supreme Court.
(1) Time and Filing Fee. A petition for further review and memorandum brief in support must be filed within 30 days after the release of the opinion of the Court of Appeals or the entry of the order of the Court of Appeals finally disposing of the appeal, whichever occurs later. For purposes of this subsection, an order of the Court of Appeals finally disposing of an appeal includes an order on a motion for rehearing or a motion for attorney fees. Pursuant to Neb. Rev. Stat. § 33-103.01, a docket fee of $50 shall be paid to the Clerk at the time of the filing of the petition for further review. Such docket fee shall be required for each appellate case number in which further review is sought, regardless of consolidation of cases for opinion by the Court of Appeals, and by each party filing for further review. This docket fee shall be waived for an indigent person who has been granted leave to proceed in forma pauperis on appeal by the trial court.
(2) Form. The petition for further review and memorandum brief in support shall follow the procedure for preparation of briefs as set forth in § 2-103(A) and (C), and § 2-109(B), and shall not exceed 3,500 words.
(3) Contents. The petition for further review and supporting memorandum brief shall set forth a separate, concise statement of each error alleged to have been made by the Court of Appeals, all of which must be annotated to the record as required by § 2-109(C). Each assignment of error shall be separately numbered and paragraphed, and grouped in a separate section, as required by § 2-109(D)(1). The memorandum brief must discuss the errors assigned.
(4) Response. Parties to the case not filing a petition for further review may respond to the petition within 10 days after the petition for further review and supporting brief are filed. The response and supporting brief shall not exceed 3,500 words. If no response will be filed, parties may notify the Clerk in writing, and the petition will be submitted immediately. A response to a petition for further review, or brief in support, may not assert a cross-appeal, but a party may separately petition for further review as provided under this rule.
(5) Filing and Service. Petitions for further review, accompanying briefs in support, and responses thereto shall be filed and served as provided in § 2-103(B).
(6) Submission. Oral argument is not permitted on a petition for further review. All petitions for further review will be submitted after a response is filed, if any, or immediately after the time for filing a response has passed.
(7) Mandate. No mandate will issue in any case during the time allowed for the filing of a petition for further review or pending the consideration thereof by the Supreme Court. If the petition is sustained, the mandate will not issue during the pendency of the appeal in the Supreme Court as provided for in § 2-114.
(G) Scope of Review. Further review by the Supreme Court is not a matter of right, but of judicial discretion. If the Supreme Court grants review of a Court of Appeals decision, the Supreme Court will review only the errors assigned in the petition for further review and discussed in the supporting memorandum brief. The Supreme Court may limit the issues to one or more of those raised by the parties and may notice plain error at its discretion.
(H) Briefs and Oral Argument on Further Review by Supreme Court. The Supreme Court may order that the parties file supplemental briefs and may order that oral argument be heard. Even without an order from the Supreme Court for briefs, each party may file additional briefs in compliance with § 2-103 and § 2-109 when further review by the Supreme Court is ordered. The petitioning party's supplemental or additional brief, together with proof of service, shall be filed in the Supreme Court within 20 days after the order for further review is entered; all nonpetitioning parties' supplemental or additional briefs must be served and filed within 20 days after petitioner has served and filed briefs. A nonpetitioning party's supplemental or additional brief may not assert a cross-appeal. For purposes of oral argument on further review, unless otherwise ordered by the Supreme Court on motion or stipulation of the parties or upon the Supreme Court's own motion, the party filing the initial petition for further review shall be entitled to open and close the argument, regardless of whether any other petitions for further review are filed in the case. Where there are multiple petitions for further review granted, all petitions shall be argued together as one case.
Rule 2, (A), and (C) - (H) amended May 28, 1992; Rule 2(E)(4) amended June 16, 1993; Rule 2(G)(1) amended June 15, 1994; Rule 2(E)(4) amended April 30, 1997; Rule 2(E)(5) and (6) adopted April 30, 1997; Rule 2(F)(4) amended May 29, 1997; Rule 2(G) adopted and Rule 2(H) amended March 24, 1999; Rule 2(F)(1) amended December 15, 1999; Rule 2(F)(3) amended November 15, 2001; Rule 2(H) amended January 24, 2002; Rule 2(F)(1) amended June 15, 2005; Rule 2(F)(1) amended January 19, 2006; Rule 2(F)(2) amended March 22, 2006. Renumbered and codified as § 2-102, effective July 18, 2008. § 2-102(B)(1) amended August 27, 2008; §§ 2-102(B)(1)-(2), (D), (F)(1) and (5), and (H) amended June 6, 2012; §§ 2-102(E)(2) and (E)(3)(a)-(c) amended October 21, 2015; § 2-102(F) and (H) amended May 12, 2021; § 2-102 amended June 9, 2021, effective January 1, 2022.