Short answer. The clerk immediately directs the stenographers to attach five copies of the testimonial transcripts referenced in the record on appeal. The stenographers must prepare an index of witnesses and page references, plus a list of exhibits with the pages where each was offered, admitted, or rejected.
What the law says
Upon the perfection of the appeal, the clerk shall immediately direct the stenographers concerned to attach to the record of the case five copies of the transcripts of the testimonial evidence referred to in the record on appeal. The stenographers concerned shall transcribe such testimonial evidence and shall prepare and affix to their transcripts an index containing the names of the witnesses and the pages wherein their testimonies are found, and a list of the exhibits and the pages wherein each of them appears to have been offered and admitted or rejected by the trial court. The transcripts shall be transmitted to the clerk of the trial court who shall thereupon arrange the same in the order in which the witnesses testified at the trial, and shall cause the pages to be numbered consecutively.
Rule 41, Section 11 — Transcript. Read the full provision →
Directing the stenographers
Upon the perfection of the appeal, the clerk of court must immediately direct the stenographers concerned to attach to the case record five copies of the transcripts of the testimonial evidence that is referred to in the record on appeal, so the appellate court has enough copies of the actual testimony to work from. Producing multiple copies at this stage means the parties and the appellate court can each work from their own set without having to share a single copy, which would otherwise slow down everyone's review of the trial record.
The index requirement
Those stenographers must also prepare and attach to their transcripts an index that lists the names of the witnesses along with the pages where their respective testimonies can be found, and a list of the exhibits together with the pages showing where each one was offered and either admitted or rejected by the trial court. Without such an index, locating a specific witness's testimony or a particular exhibit within a lengthy transcript would be far more time-consuming for the appellate court, especially in a case involving many witnesses or a voluminous set of exhibits.
Arranging and numbering the transcripts
Once prepared, the transcripts are transmitted to the clerk of the trial court, who then arranges them in the order in which the witnesses actually testified at trial, and causes the pages to be numbered consecutively, so the whole set of transcripts is presented in a coherent, chronological, and navigable form. Consecutive numbering across the whole set makes it possible to cite a specific page precisely, which matters once the parties start arguing over what the record actually shows on appeal. That final, numbered set is what the appellate court and both parties will actually cite from for the rest of the appeal.
Related provisions
- Rule 41, Section 11 — Transcript
- Rule 41, Section 10 — Duty of clerk of court of the lower court upon perfection of appeal
- Rule 41, Section 12 — Transmittal