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name: certificate-of-interested-persons language: en description: Drafts a FRAP 26.1-compliant Certificate of Interested Persons identifying all parties, entities, and affiliates with financial or legal interests in a federal appeal. Adapts to circuit-specific local rules. Use when filing appeals, corporate disclosure statements, or conflict-of-interest certificates in U.S. Courts of Appeals. tags:

• drafting
• litigation
• pleading

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Certificate of Interested Persons

Discloses all persons and entities with a financial or legal interest in the outcome of a federal appeal per FRAP 26.1 and circuit local rules.

Prerequisites

1. Case caption — appellate case number, full party names as on the notice of appeal
2. Lower court filings — complaints, answers, corporate disclosure statements, settlement agreements
3. Corporate structure — ownership charts, parent/subsidiary relationships, merger/acquisition records
4. Representation details — all law firms and attorneys of record per party
5. Target circuit — specific U.S. Court of Appeals (requirements vary)

Process

1. Identify Circuit Requirements

[VERIFY] Research the destination circuit's local rules. Key variations:

Requirement	Variation
Document title	"Certificate of Interested Persons" vs. "Corporate Disclosure Statement" vs. "Disclosure of Corporate Affiliations and Financial Interests"
Listing order	Alphabetical vs. categorical by party
Amici disclosure	Anticipated amici vs. only filed briefs
Negative statements	Some circuits require explicit "none" for empty categories
Formatting	Single- vs. double-spaced; page limits

2. Extract Interested Persons

Search all uploaded documents for every disclosable person/entity:

Category	Disclose
Named parties	All parties including dismissed/settled; complete legal names
Counsel	Law firms, office locations, individual attorneys of record
Parent corporations	Every layer to ultimate parent; note wholly-owned subsidiaries
Subsidiaries	Those affected by litigation outcome
10%+ stockholders	Publicly held companies owning ≥10% of a party's stock
Insurers	Companies covering claims at issue
Litigation funders	Third-party financiers with recovery interest
Indemnitors/guarantors	Entities obligated to satisfy judgment
Bankruptcy parties	Trustee, DIP, creditors' committee if applicable
Amici curiae	Orgs that have filed or indicated intent to file

3. Draft the Certificate

Caption: Full court name, appellate case number, party names exactly as on notice of appeal, document title per local rule.

Disclosure body:

• Complete legal name for each person/entity — no abbreviations or trade names
• Relationship descriptor (e.g., "Parent corporation of Defendant XYZ Corp.")
• Full corporate ownership chain for corporate parties

Certification statement:

• Reference FRAP 26.1 and applicable local rule by number
• Attest completeness after reasonable inquiry
• Acknowledge continuing duty to supplement
• Include FRAP 32(g) certification

Signature block: Attorney name, signature (CM/ECF compliant), bar number, jurisdiction, firm name, address, phone, email, date.

4. Quality Checks

• All names spelled correctly; complete legal names used (no trade names)
• Every required category addressed, including negative statements where required
• Corporate ownership chains fully traced
• Consistent with prior trial-court disclosure statements
• Changes in corporate structure or representation since trial court flagged
• Formatting meets circuit specifications (margins, typeface, spacing, page limits)
• Properly dated and signed

Guidelines

• Completeness over brevity — omitting an interested person risks recusal motions and procedural delays; when in doubt, disclose
• Verify corporate structures with client — public filings may be outdated; confirm current ownership before filing
• Flag changes from trial court — note any corporate structure or representation changes explicitly
• Never abbreviate entity names — courts use these for automated conflict checks
• Supplement promptly — file a supplemental certificate immediately upon discovering new interested persons
• Circuit rules control — FRAP 26.1 sets the floor, not the ceiling; always check local rules