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Supreme Court Rules Table of Contents
(1) The parties shall attempt to enter into stipulations, such as an agreed statement of facts, that will reduce the size of transcripts or avoid them completely. If such a stipulation is entered into, an original and 8 copies thereof must be filed with the clerk's office if it is not included in the notice of appeal.
(2) (a) Mandatory appeals. The moving party shall have completed the notice of appeal form which includes the transcript information, including the date of the proceedings to be transcribed, the length of the proceedings, the name(s) of any court reporters, and the deposit required. A transcript of the parts of the proceedings necessary for appeal and not already on file in the trial court from which the questions of law have been transferred shall be prepared. The supreme court clerk's office shall issue a scheduling order notifying the moving party to pay the deposit for the transcript to the clerk of the trial court within 15 days from the date on the written notice or have the appeal deemed waived or have the case dismissed. Upon timely receiving the required deposit, the trial court clerk shall immediately notify the court reporter to proceed with the transcription and shall notify the clerk of the supreme court that the court reporter has been so notified. If the trial court clerk does not timely receive the required deposit, the clerk shall immediately so notify the clerk of the supreme court. For the purposes of initial assessment of transcription costs pursuant to this rule, any party filing an appeal may be considered a moving party, and in cases of multiple appeals, the court, within its discretion, may assess transcription costs as justice requires.
(b) Other appeals from trial court decisions on the merits. The moving party shall have completed the notice of appeal form which includes the transcript information, including the date of the proceedings to be transcribed, the length of the proceedings, the name(s) of any court reporters, and the deposit required. If the appeal is accepted by the court for briefing, the supreme court clerk's office shall issue a scheduling order notifying the moving party to pay the deposit for the transcript to the clerk of the trial court within 15 days from the date on the written notice or have the appeal deemed waived or have the case dismissed. Upon timely receiving the required deposit, the trial court clerk shall immediately notify the court reporter to proceed with the transcription and shall notify the clerk of the supreme court that the court reporter has been so notified. If the trial court clerk does not timely receive the required deposit, the clerk shall immediately so notify the clerk of the supreme court. For the purposes of initial assessment of transcription costs pursuant to this rule, any party filing an appeal may be considered a moving party, and in cases of multiple appeals, the court, within its discretion, may assess transcription costs as justice requires.
(3) If the moving party intends to argue in the supreme court that a finding or conclusion is unsupported by the evidence or is contrary to the evidence, he shall include in the record a transcript of all evidence relevant to such finding or conclusion. Unless otherwise ordered by the supreme court, the transcript shall contain all the oral proceedings except opening statements, medical testimony, arguments, and charge.
(4) Unless the parties agree, or the court otherwise orders, the trial court reporter shall produce a completed original and 2 copies of a transcript as early as possible within 45 days after the reporter is notified by the trial court clerk to proceed with the transcription. Requests for extensions of time in which to prepare a transcript shall not be favored, but a trial court reporter may request that the supreme court grant an extension of time. Such a request shall give the reasons for the need for an extension. The trial court reporter shall send a copy of the letter to the chief justice of the superior court.
(5) The supreme court may order that the preparation of a transcript in a case be given immediate attention.
(6) The original transcript shall be transmitted to the supreme court as part of the record on appeal, and the copies shall be transmitted to the parties.
(7) The trial court reporter shall bind the transcript in a volume or volumes, with the pages consecutively numbered throughout all volumes. The transcript shall be indexed. The index in the first volume shall refer to the number of each volume and the page, and shall be cumulative for all volumes; the index in each other volume shall cover the subject matter in that volume. The index shall list each witness alphabetically, and under the name of the witness, shall refer to the page number where the direct and each other examination of the witness begins. There shall be a list of exhibits by number or letter, with a brief indication of the nature of the contents, and a list of the pages of the transcript where each exhibit has been identified, offered, received, or rejected. There shall be a list of other important parts of the trial that may have been transcribed, such as opening statements, arguments to the jury, and instructions, with a reference to the page where each begins.
(8) The court may order the State or the appealing party in every case in which the State is not a party to file with the clerk of the supreme court a copy of the transcript immediately after oral argument or immediately after the case is submitted for decision on the briefs and without oral argument.
Comment
It is a long-standing rule that parties may not have judicial review of matters not raised in the forum of trial. Absent a transcript of the proceedings below, the supreme court will generally assume that the evidence was sufficient to support the result reached by the trial court. It is the burden of the appealing party to provide the supreme court with a record sufficient to decide the issues on appeal, as well as to demonstrate that those issues were properly raised before the trial court. In deciding whether a transcript of the trial court's proceedings is necessary, the appealing party should keep in mind that the appealing party is responsible for providing the supreme court with a sufficient record to decide the issues on appeal. If the appealing party fails to provide a sufficient record, the appeal may be dismissed or the supreme court may not review an issue that the appealing party has raised. See Bean v. Red Oak Prop. Mgmt., 151 N.H. 248 (2004).