Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

How much is the docket fee?

What are your hours?

How many copies of pleadings do you require?

How do I get a copy of an opinion?

Can I fax pleadings to your office?

What is your mailing address?

What is your physical address?

What is the telephone number for district court, magistrate court, municipal court?

How do I get copies of a pleading?

How do I borrow the case materials?

How do I file an appeal?

What is the status of my case?

Can I file in the Albuquerque Office?

How can I get an extension of time?

Have you received my pleading?

Have they ruled on my motion?

How long will it take the Courts to decide my case?

The answer to this question depends on many factors. From the time you file your notice of appeal to the time of decision can be as short as two months or as long as two and one-half years. A decision in two months requires that you file your docketing statement immediately after the notice of appeal and requires that the appeal be decided on the summary calendar and that everything else happens as quickly as possible. Usually, however, cases on the summary calendar take an average of five to six months to decide from notice of appeal to decision. Cases assigned to the general calendar take an average of a year and one-half to decide from notice of appeal to decision. On the general calendar, the time from submission to decision averages six months. However five percent of the Court’s cases assigned to the general calendar will take longer than one year from submission to decision.

How long does it take from the time I file my docketing statement until the time the case is calendared?

When the docketing statement is filed, the Court needs to wait for the record proper before it will refer the case to its prehearing division to make a calendaring recommendation. Some districts send the record proper to the Court of Appeals within a week and other districts take several weeks to a couple of months. Then, the staff attorneys in the prehearing division will usually take two weeks, but sometimes (in a very unusual case) as long as six weeks, to make a calendaring recommendation, and the calendaring judge will decide whether to accept that recommendation within a few days. Two months is probably the average time it takes to calendar a case after the filing of the docketing statement.

What does it mean if I filed my memorandum in opposition a month ago and still have not heard anything?

This is not unusual at all. The Court’s average time from notice of disposition to opinion is over two months, so most cases will take more than a month from your memorandum in opposition to decide. In addition, it is not infrequent that the participating judges will take some time to decide whether they want to join in the summary memorandum opinion. If a case takes a long time to decide, it could mean that one or more judges do not agree, and then the case will be reassigned to another summary calendar or to a general calendar. But taking a long time does not necessarily mean that there will be a change in calendar.

If I want some particular relief that is not provided for in the rules, such as an expedited decision or expedited mandate or a clarification of the briefing schedule, what should I do?

What factors are used to determine whether an opinion is a memo (unpublished) or formal (published) opinion and who makes the decision?

The panel assigned to the case makes the decision, and as with all Court of Appeals decisions, the majority of the panel (two judges of the three assigned) make the decision. The criteria for memorandum opinions are contained in NMRA 12-405(B), and they generally concern whether the case result is determined by settled New Mexico law: either statutory, rule, or case law or the presence of substantial evidence or absence of harm to the complaining party. If out-of- jurisdiction authorities need to be cited, it is generally a sign that the opinion needs to be formal. Even if all of the authorities cited are New Mexico authorities, an opinion may be issued in formal form if the judges think that it will provide needed guidance to the bench and bar.

If I get a memo opinion that I think should be made formal, is there anything I can do?

See the answer to question 23. A motion can always be filed, but the Court does not frequently grant these motions. A formal opinion takes much more time, both judge time and staff time, to craft and check for technical errors. While the judges are always satisfied that the result is correct, regardless of whether the opinion is to be published or unpublished, once they have made the decision to file an unpublished opinion, they must be presented with weighty reasons to change to a published opinion, which will likely involve much more work.

How often do the Court’s initial calendar notices get changed or what are my chances of getting a different result if I file a memorandum in opposition?

Twenty to twenty-five percent of the cases originally assigned to the summary calendar get reassigned to a non-summary calendar following a memorandum in opposition. Many people have the misperception that staff attorneys write the notices of proposed disposition with little input from judges and that such notices should be freely disparaged in the memorandum in opposition to catch judicial attention and warrant a calendar reassignment. In fact, the calendaring judge will not infrequently make substantial changes in the draft written by the staff attorneys. Respectful disagreement with the notice of proposed disposition, including specifically pointing out where it is inconsistent with the facts of the case or with the law, will frequently result in a change of disposition.

Are pro se parties and attorneys treated the same?

Can I e-mail documents to the Court?

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

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