Board of Trustees for the City of Little Rock Pension Fund v. Mark Stodola et al.

BOARD OF TRUSTEES for the City of Little Rock
Police Pension Fund v. Mark STODOLA, et al.

96-948                                             ___ S.W.2d ___

                    Supreme Court of Arkansas
               Opinion delivered November 11, 1996


1.   Appeal & error -- attorney's duty to make himself aware of
     date on which brief was due. -- The rules of the supreme court
     clearly state that the appellant must file a brief within
     forty days of lodging the record; it is the attorney's, not
     the court's, responsibility to make himself aware of the date
     on which his brief was due.

2.   Appeal & error -- motion to dismiss denied -- motion to file
     belated brief granted. -- The supreme court denied the
     separate appellee's motion to dismiss the appeal and granted
     appellant's motion to file a belated brief.


     Motion to Dismiss; denied.
     Motion to File Belated Brief; granted.
     Tell Hulett, for appellant.
     Stephen Cobb, Pulaski County Att'y's Office, for separate
appellee Pulaski County.

     Per Curiam.
     On October 14, 1996, the separate appellee, Pulaski County,
filed a motion to dismiss this appeal because the appellant had
failed to timely file its brief or to request an extension.
     On October 15, 1996, Tell Hulett, counsel for the appellant,
filed a motion for extension of time to file a belated brief. 
Hulett lodged the record on August 15, 1996, and, according to Ark.
S. Ct. R. 4-4(a), was required to file his brief by September 24,
1996.  As of today, Hulett has not filed the brief nor has he been
granted an extension.
     Hulett explains that he failed to file a timely brief because
the Supreme Court Clerk did not notify him of the date on which his
brief was due.  The rules clearly state that the appellant must
file a brief within forty days of lodging the record.  Ark. S. Ct.
R. 4-4(a).  It is Hulett's, not the court's, responsibility to make
himself aware of the date on which his brief was due.
     The motion to dismiss the appeal is denied.  The motion to
file a belated brief is granted.  A copy of this per curiam will be
forwarded to the Committee on Professional Conduct.  See also Baker
v. State, (slip op. CR96-502,  November 11, 1996)(per curiam).