Short answer. Forty-five days — counted not from the decision you are appealing, but from receipt of the notice from the clerk of court that all the evidence, oral and documentary, is attached to the record. Within that period the appellant files seven copies of the brief, with proof of service of two copies on the appellee.
What the law says
within forty-five days from receipt of the notice of the clerk that all the evidence, oral and documentary, are attached to the record
Rule 44, Section 7 — Appellant' s brief. Read the full provision →
Forty-five days — but from a notice, not the judgment
Rule 44 makes it the duty of the appellant to file the brief within forty-five days from receipt of the notice of the clerk that all the evidence, oral and documentary, are attached to the record. The reckoning point surprises many first-time appellants: the count does not run from the trial court's decision, nor from the filing of the notice of appeal, but from a communication of the Court of Appeals' clerk telling the parties the record is complete. Until that notice arrives there is no brief deadline running — and once it arrives, everything runs from the date you received it.
What must be filed, and on whom it must be served
The rule specifies form as well as time: seven copies of his legibly typewritten, mimeographed or printed brief, with proof of service of two copies thereof upon the appellee. Service is not an afterthought — the filing must come with proof that two copies reached the other side, so the service has to be arranged before or alongside the filing, not scrambled after. Note also who the duty binds: this section speaks to the appellant alone. The appellee answers with a brief of his own under a separate provision, on a separate period — the forty-five days discussed here is the appellant's burden, and the appellee's clock does not start until the appellant's brief is served. The brief itself is the appellant's one full statement of why the judgment below is wrong; the forty-five days exist to produce that document, not merely to sign it.
Guarding a deadline that starts with the mail
Because the period is triggered by receipt of a clerk's notice, the dangerous phase is the waiting one. An office that does not log incoming court notices carefully can lose days before anyone realises the clock has started; a party who has moved without updating the address on record may never see the notice at all. So while the appeal is pending completion of the record, keep the address current, instruct whoever receives mail to date-stamp court envelopes, and tell your counsel the day anything arrives. Failing to file the brief on time puts the appeal itself in jeopardy — the merits never get read if the brief never properly arrives.