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Federal Judicial Center Exploratory Study of the Appellate Cost Bond Provisions of Rule 7 of the Federal Rules of Appellate Procedure

Marie Leary
April 1, 2008

At its Fall 2007 meeting, the Appellate Rules Advisory Committee discussed the current circuit split over whether Federal Rule of Appellate Procedure 7 authorizes the inclusion of attorney fees in a bond for costs on appeal. This item has been brought back before the Committee as it determines whether, in light of recent case law developments, to proceed with a proposed amendment approved by the Committee in 2003 which made clear that FRAP 7 bond "costs" do not include attorney fees. This report describes an exploratory study undertaken by the FJC of FRAP 7 bond activity in three federal district courts: the Southern District of New York, the Central District of California, and the Eastern District of Michigan. These districts are in circuits that permit attorney fees to be included in FRAP 7 cost bonds.