How the appellate categories work
An appellate NAC uses its own 13 categories in eBill, not the trial set (eBill 2.0 User Manual, section 3.3, categories change by NAC type). The labels below are the ones on the eBill appellate form. Most of what makes the set different is what an appeal is built from: the record, the brief, oral argument, and the petition for further review.
| eBill label | What goes here |
|---|---|
| Hearing.Argument | Oral argument and hearings before the appeals court. |
| Rec Assem & Rev/Tr | Assembling and reviewing the record and the trial transcripts. |
| Conf w/Couns/Ment | Conferences with co-counsel or your mentor. In practice, coordinating calls and emails with co-counsel land here. |
| Drft Mot Lgl Mem | Drafting motions and legal memoranda, like a motion for a new trial. |
| Drft App Brief | Drafting the appellate brief. |
| Prep - Arg/Hrg | Preparing for oral argument or a hearing. |
| Court Waiting Time | Time waiting at court for your case to be called. |
| Client Contact | Contact with your client. The appellate form rolls phone and in-person into one Client Contact line, unlike the trial form. |
| Drft Pet-Rehrg/FAR | Drafting a petition for rehearing or for further appellate review (FAR). |
| Legal Research | Researching the issues on appeal. |
| Drft CPCS Appr Fed | Drafting a CPCS approval request for federal work. (Confirm this one against your panel before relying on it.) |
| Travel | Travel to and from court. |
| Other | Work that fits nothing above. |
What is different from the trial form
The appellate set folds phone and in-person contact into one Client Contact line, where the trial form keeps them apart. It also adds the categories an appeal actually runs on: assembling and reviewing the record, drafting the brief, and drafting a petition for rehearing or further appellate review. If you also carry trial cases, do not bring the trial habits over. The lists are not the same.
How Plani handles it
You text what you did, like "3 hours on the brief," and Plani files it under Drft App Brief. It knows the case is an appeal, so it reaches for the appellate categories, not the trial ones. If you want a different category, tell it and it refiles.