Creating a robust record and properly preserving all potential issues for appeal is a challenging but important task, particularly in complex civil litigation. Because federal appellate courts generally are limited to reviewing issues, evidence, and arguments that were brought before the district court, any issues and arguments that are not properly and timely presented to the district court usually are deemed waived on appeal. As a result, many otherwise promising appeals have been lost due to counsel's failure to preserve the record.

The resources in this Toolkit provide guidance on raising and preserving issues and arguments for appellate review at the pretrial, trial, and post-trial stages of civil litigation in federal court. For additional information on protecting the record on appeal and common deadlines in federal civil litigation, see: