Not that long ago, appellate briefs were drafted using a typewriter and filed with the appellate clerk’s office solely in paper form. Even with the widespread use of personal computers, appellate briefs were filed with the clerk’s office in hardcopy form, and parties were required to file 25 copies with the clerk for Supreme Court briefs and 15 copies for Appellate Court briefs. See CT Rules of Appellate Procedure § 4064B. Each judge and their law clerks would receive a copy of the briefs for review before oral argument, and a copy was kept on file at the state library. E-filing programs were generally nonexistent as the internet was still in its infancy.

As the digital age firmly took hold, the appellate courts established an e-briefing program, which at first was optional, and then became mandatory on October 1, 2021. As a result, Practice Book § 67-2A was enacted and required parties to file a digital version of their appellate brief. However, the parties were, and still are, required to file “two legible photocopies of each brief and party appendix … with the appellate clerk.” Practice Book § 67-2A(d). Thus, a brief is not officially filed until the two hardcopies of that brief are submitted to, and stamped by, the appellate clerk’s office.