Appeals may be consolidated by order of the supreme court upon its own motion or upon motion of a party, or by stipulation of the parties to the several appeals. The clerk of the trial court shall cause a copy of the notice of appeal to be mailed to the clerk of the supreme court and to counsel of record for each party other than the appellant, or, if a party is not represented by counsel, to the party's last known address. In criminal cases, habeas corpus proceedings, or post-conviction proceedings, the clerk shall also mail a copy of the docket entries to the clerk of the supreme court. The clerk shall note on each copy mailed the date on which the notice of appeal was filed. Failure of the clerk to cause the notice to be mailed does not affect the validity of the appeal.
Service is sufficient notwithstanding the death of a party or the party's counsel.
The clerk shall note in the docket the names of the parties to whom copies are mailed, with the date of mailing. The title of the action is not to be changed in consequence of the appeal. The federal rules governing appeal as of right are adopted for general use because the appeals by permission contemplated by federal practice are absent from our appellate structure. Rule 3, FRAppP, is substantially adopted in this rule. Nothing other than the timely filing of the notice of appeal in the trial court is required to give the Supreme Court jurisdiction over the appeal.