Manually preparing Certificates of Interested Persons requires combing through case files to identify every party, counsel, affiliate, and entity with potential interests—a tedious process prone to omissions. Attorneys must then verify compliance with FRAP 26.1 and local rules while ensuring proper formatting, often spending hours on what should be a straightforward disclosure requirement.
Drafting a Certificate of Interested Persons requires meticulous review of case files, corporate structures, and circuit-specific rules to identify every party, entity, and financial interest. Missing even one required disclosure can create conflicts, delay proceedings, or require embarrassing amendments. Manual preparation is time-consuming and error-prone, especially with complex corporate ownership or multi-party litigation.
CaseMark automatically extracts all parties, corporate affiliations, and interested persons from your case documents, then generates a complete, circuit-compliant certificate in minutes. Our AI identifies parent corporations, subsidiaries, insurers, and non-obvious interested parties while formatting the disclosure to match your specific appellate court's requirements, ensuring nothing is overlooked.
This workflow is applicable across multiple practice areas and use cases
Commercial litigation cases frequently proceed to appeal, requiring certificates of interested persons that identify all corporate parties, subsidiaries, and affiliates involved in complex business disputes.
Commercial litigation often involves multiple corporate entities and complex ownership structures that must be disclosed on appeal, making this workflow essential for ensuring complete and compliant disclosure statements.
IP litigation appeals require disclosure of all interested persons including parent companies, licensees, and entities with ownership interests in the disputed intellectual property.
IP cases frequently involve corporate parties with complex licensing arrangements and ownership structures, and appeals are common in patent and trademark disputes requiring comprehensive interested person disclosures.
Class action appeals require certificates identifying all class representatives, defendant entities, insurers, and corporate affiliates to ensure proper conflict checking at the appellate level.
Class actions routinely proceed to appeal and involve numerous parties and corporate defendants with complex structures, making automated certificate generation particularly valuable for managing extensive disclosure requirements.
Employment litigation appeals require disclosure of employer entities, parent companies, subsidiaries, and insurance carriers that may have conflicts with appellate judges or counsel.
Employment cases frequently involve corporate employers with multiple affiliates and insurance relationships, and appeals on summary judgment or class certification issues are common, necessitating complete interested person disclosures.
Bankruptcy appeals require certificates identifying debtors, creditors, equity holders, and all entities with financial interests in the bankruptcy estate or adversary proceeding.
Bankruptcy matters generate frequent appeals and involve complex webs of interested parties including secured creditors, equity holders, and affiliated entities that must be disclosed for conflict checking purposes.
A Certificate of Interested Persons is a mandatory appellate filing that discloses all parties, entities, and persons with a financial or legal interest in the case outcome. Required by Federal Rule of Appellate Procedure 26.1 and similar state rules, it enables judges to identify potential conflicts of interest and recuse themselves if necessary. The certificate must include named parties, their counsel, parent corporations, subsidiaries, insurers, and other interested entities to ensure judicial impartiality.
CaseMark analyzes your uploaded case documents—including pleadings, corporate disclosure statements, and docket entries—to extract all parties, law firms, and corporate affiliations. Our AI traces corporate ownership structures to identify parent companies and subsidiaries, flags insurance carriers and litigation funders mentioned in documents, and cross-references prior disclosure statements to ensure completeness. The system then organizes this information according to your specific circuit's formatting requirements.
Yes, requirements vary significantly by circuit. While all federal circuits follow FRAP 26.1, local rules differ on formatting, organization (alphabetical vs. categorical), disclosure of anticipated amici, and even the document's title. Some circuits require separate sections for different categories of interested persons, while others prefer a single alphabetical list. CaseMark automatically formats your certificate to match the specific requirements of your destination appellate court, ensuring compliance with local rules.
You have a continuing duty to supplement your Certificate of Interested Persons if new interested parties are discovered during the appeal. This commonly occurs when corporate structures change, new amici file briefs, or previously unknown financial interests are revealed. CaseMark makes it easy to update and refile your certificate by allowing you to add new information and regenerate a compliant amended certificate with updated certification language reflecting the supplemental filing.
Yes, CaseMark is designed to trace multi-layered corporate structures including parent corporations, wholly-owned subsidiaries, publicly held companies with ownership interests, and special purpose entities. The system identifies all entities in the corporate family tree and ensures disclosure of ultimate parent corporations and any publicly traded companies with 10% or more ownership. For particularly complex structures, you can upload organizational charts or corporate documents to ensure complete accuracy.