Certificate of Interested Persons - Enhanced Legal Workflow Prompt

You are tasked with drafting a comprehensive Certificate of Interested Persons, a critical litigation document required in appellate proceedings to identify potential conflicts of interest and ensure judicial impartiality. This certificate must comply with Federal Rule of Appellate Procedure 26.1 and any applicable local court rules, ensuring complete disclosure of all parties and entities with a financial or legal interest in the case outcome.

Initial Information Gathering and Document Review

Begin by conducting a thorough review of all available case materials to identify every person and entity that must be disclosed. Search through the user's uploaded documents to extract essential information including the complete case caption, all party names as they appear in lower court proceedings, corporate affiliations and ownership structures, law firm representations, and any prior disclosure statements filed in the trial court. Pay particular attention to corporate disclosure statements, complaints, answers, and settlement agreements that may reveal non-obvious interested parties. Extract specific details such as parent corporations, subsidiaries, publicly held companies with ownership interests of 10% or more, insurers providing coverage for the claims, and any third-party litigation funders or indemnitors.

When reviewing corporate parties, trace ownership structures carefully to identify all entities in the corporate family tree. Look for merger and acquisition documents, annual reports referenced in pleadings, and any corporate organizational charts that may have been filed. If the case involves complex corporate structures or special purpose entities, ensure that beneficial ownership is fully disclosed, not merely the immediate corporate parent.

Document Structure and Jurisdictional Compliance

Construct the certificate with a proper case caption that reflects the specific formatting requirements of the destination appellate court. The caption should include the full name of the appellate court (such as "United States Court of Appeals for the [Circuit]"), the appellate case number, the complete names of all appellants and appellees exactly as they appear in the notice of appeal, and the document title as specified by local rules (which may be "Certificate of Interested Persons," "Corporate Disclosure Statement," or "Disclosure of Corporate Affiliations and Financial Interests" depending on the circuit).

Research the specific requirements of the relevant appellate court, as circuits vary significantly in their disclosure requirements. Some circuits require alphabetical listing of all interested persons, while others require categorical organization by party affiliation. Certain jurisdictions mandate disclosure of amici curiae who have filed or indicated intent to file briefs, while others limit disclosure to parties and their corporate affiliates. Verify whether the court requires a negative statement if no interested persons exist beyond the named parties, and confirm any page limitations or formatting specifications unique to that jurisdiction.

Comprehensive Enumeration of Interested Persons

Draft the substantive disclosure section with meticulous attention to completeness and accuracy. Begin with all named parties to the litigation, including any parties who were dismissed, settled, or otherwise exited the case before appeal, as their interests may still be relevant to potential conflicts. List each party's complete legal name without abbreviations, followed by all law firms representing that party with full firm names, office locations, and the names of individual attorneys of record.

For each corporate party, provide a complete disclosure of the corporate structure. Identify all parent corporations by their full legal names, noting that some corporations may have multiple layers of parent entities that must all be disclosed. List all subsidiaries that could be affected by the litigation outcome, and identify any publicly held company owning 10% or more of the party's stock, including the exact percentage of ownership if known. If a party is a wholly-owned subsidiary, state this explicitly and identify the ultimate parent corporation.

Expand the disclosure to include non-party interested persons who may not be immediately obvious from the case caption. Identify any insurance companies providing coverage for the claims at issue, as insurers often have direct financial interests in appellate outcomes. Disclose any litigation funding entities or third-party financiers who have provided capital in exchange for a share of any recovery. Include any indemnitors or guarantors who may be obligated to satisfy a judgment. If the case involves bankruptcy proceedings, identify the trustee, debtor-in-possession, or any creditors' committee with standing.

Address potential amicus participation by identifying any trade associations, industry groups, advocacy organizations, or other entities that have filed amicus briefs in the trial court or have indicated intent to participate in the appeal. Some circuits require disclosure of amici even before briefs are filed if participation is anticipated.

Certification Language and Ongoing Obligations

Draft a certification statement that formally attests to the completeness and accuracy of the disclosure. The certification should explicitly reference the governing rule (Federal Rule of Appellate Procedure 26.1 or the specific local rule of the circuit), state that the disclosure includes all persons and entities required to be listed to the best of the filer's knowledge and belief after reasonable inquiry, and acknowledge the continuing duty to supplement the certificate if additional interested persons are discovered during the pendency of the appeal.

Include language that reflects the serious nature of this disclosure obligation, noting that the certificate is made under penalty of perjury or subject to the certifications required by Federal Rule of Appellate Procedure 32(g). The certification should make clear that counsel has conducted a diligent investigation to identify all interested persons and has consulted with the client to verify corporate affiliations and financial interests.

Execution, Formatting, and Quality Control

Conclude the certificate with a proper signature block that includes the printed name and signature of the attorney or party filing the certificate, the attorney's bar number and jurisdiction of admission, the complete law firm name and contact information including street address, telephone number, fax number if applicable, and email address, and the date of execution. Ensure the signature complies with any electronic filing requirements of the court, including acceptable formats for digital signatures.

Format the entire document according to professional appellate standards with appropriate margins (typically one-inch on all sides), acceptable typeface (usually 14-point for proportionally spaced fonts or Courier 12-point for monospaced fonts), proper line spacing (typically double-spaced for the certification language, though the list of interested persons may be single-spaced in some circuits), and clear section headings that guide the reader through the disclosure.

Perform a final quality control review to verify that all names are spelled correctly with proper capitalization, all entities are identified by their complete legal names rather than trade names or abbreviations, all required categories of interested persons have been addressed even if only to state that none exist in a particular category, the document complies with any page limitations imposed by local rules, and the certificate is dated and signed appropriately. Cross-reference the certificate against any prior disclosure statements filed in the trial court to ensure consistency and to identify any changes in corporate structure or party representation that occurred during the litigation.

The completed Certificate of Interested Persons should be a polished, accurate, and comprehensive document that fully satisfies the court's disclosure requirements and enables judges to identify any potential conflicts of interest before considering the merits of the appeal. This document serves not merely as a procedural formality but as an essential safeguard of judicial impartiality and public confidence in the appellate process.