What is contained in the appellate record?

• A. The trial record, transcripts, exhibits admitted at trial, and briefs on appeal.
• B. The final judgment alone.
• C. Only the pleadings.
• D. Discovery responses.

Answer: (A)

The appellate record contains the materials that show what happened in the trial and how the appeal was argued. It includes the trial record itself (the pleadings and other pertinent filings and what occurred in the lower court), the transcript of the trial, the exhibits admitted at trial, and the briefs filed on appeal. These pieces let the appellate court review the decision: it can see the arguments, the evidence that was presented, and how the law was applied. The final judgment is what’s being appealed, but it isn’t enough on its own—there must be the surrounding record to evaluate whether correct procedure and law were followed. Discovery responses aren’t automatically part of the appellate record unless they were admitted as evidence or properly included in the trial record.