An appellant may elect to perfect his or her appeal by providing the appellate court with a full record on appeal, the contents of which are prescribed in CPLR 5526, or by using the "appendix method," pursuant to CPLR 5528(a)(5) and the Rules of the Court of Appeals and the Appellate Division.1 The "appendix system was adopted in New York after extensive study indicated the need to reduce the cost of printing records on appeal."2 It can result in considerable savings in printing costs. For example, when a defendant's appeal in a personal injury case presents only questions of law as to the sufficiency of defenses such as res judicata, statute of limitations or jurisdiction, the often voluminous factual and expert evidence as to damages can be omitted.
On an appeal from a final judgment, the record consists of the notice of appeal, the judgment-roll, which contains the summons, pleadings and each judgment or order involving the merits or necessarily affecting the final judgment (see CPLR 5017(b)), the corrected transcript of the proceedings if a trial or hearing was held, any relevant exhibits, any reviewable non-final judgment or order (see CPLR §5501(a)), and any opinions in the case.
