On appeals NOT being filed with NYSCEF at the Appellate level, when perfecting an appeal in the Appellate Division, Second Department, a docket number will be issued. Each Order/Judgment, together with their respective notice(s) of appeal, will carry a specific docket number. In the event that one finds oneself appealing from multiple Orders and/or a Judgment being perfected in a single Record, the Second Department will still assign each Order/Judgment (with their respective Notices of Appeal) a different docket number.
In the past, a docket number was assigned promptly after the filing of the notice of appeal. If an Appellant was required to perfect an appeal before a docket number could be issued, the clerk of the Second Department would simply assign a docket number at the time of filing of the Record/Appendix and Brief. However, due to a large increase in the number of appeals being filed in this Court, this is no longer the case. Currently, it can take several months for a docket number to be issued after the notice of appeal is filed.
In view of the fact that a docket number is required for all appeals perfected at the Second Department, problems can arise whenever an Appellant must perfect an appeal expeditiously. At present, in order to obtain a docket number quickly, the Appellant must bring to the Second Department a copy of the stamped “filed” notice of appeal, the Order/Judgment being appealed and the RADI form to the Second Department. The Court will issue a docket number the next day and the Appellant will be able to label their Record/Appendix and Brief accordingly.
The Court considers this accelerated approach of receiving a docket number to be a method that is only carried out under extreme circumstances. As a result, the clerks will make a note in their records that a docket number has been issued in this manner and will expect to see the appeal served and filed within the next few days. It is best not to go through this process uncertain of whether or not you will be filing soon after the docket number is issued, to then find yourself perfecting the appeal months down the road. The request to expedite the assignment of a docket number should be made prudently and judiciously as one never wants to run the risk of displeasing the Court.