Opinion ID: 222129
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Incomplete Record on Appeal

Text: Gerald only submitted the trial transcript of Dr. Riley as part of the record on appeal; he did not request that the transcript of the entire bench trial be included in the record. Rule 10(b)(2) of the Federal Rules of Appellate Procedure provides: If the appellant intends to urge on appeal that a finding or conclusion is unsupported by the evidence or is contrary to the evidence, the appellant must include in the record a transcript of all evidence relevant to that finding or conclusion. Fed. R.App. P. 10(b)(2). He also did not follow the requirements of Appellate Rule 10(b)(3), which requires an appellant who has not filed a complete transcript of the trial to file a statement of the issues the appellant intends to present on appeal and to serve it on the appellee. Fed. R.App. P. 10(b)(3). A violation of Rule 10(b)(2) is grounds for forfeiture and dismissal. Gramercy Mills, Inc. v. Wolens, 63 F.3d 569, 573-74 (7th Cir.1995). We will dismiss an appeal if the absence of the transcript precludes meaningful review. Piggie v. Cotton, 342 F.3d 660, 663 (7th Cir. 2003). The appellant has the burden of ordering the necessary transcripts; when challenging the sufficiency of the evidence, this includes the trial transcript. Birchler v. Gehl Co., 88 F.3d 518, 519 (7th Cir.1996) (part of transcript not sufficient under the rule); see also Gramercy, 63 F.3d at 573-74 (transcript must be included when party challenges sufficiency of evidence). In Hotaling v. Chubb Sovereign Life Insurance Co., 241 F.3d 572, 581 (7th Cir.2001), the plaintiff appealed the district court's findings after a bench trial, arguing that there was insufficient evidence to find for the defendants. We were unable to address his insufficiency claim, however, because he failed to file a copy of the transcript of the bench trial. Id. Accordingly, we held that the plaintiff forfeited the argument on appeal. Id.; see also Lampley v. McBride, 207 Fed.Appx. 649 (7th Cir.2006) (unpublished) (finding that we couldn't conduct meaningful appellate review of trial record and district court's findings from the bench trial where appellant didn't include trial transcript in the record). Rule 10(b)(2) requires that the record include a transcript of all evidence relevant to the court's findings or conclusions. In this case, that would include all portions of the trial relating to Gerald's FTCA claim. The only portion of the bench trial transcript provided by Gerald is the transcript of Dr. Riley's testimony. Gerald argues that Dr. Riley's testimony precludes a finding in the government's favor, but in making this argument, he misapplies the applicable standard of review. He attempts to show that there was some evidence presented at trial that supports his theory. This may be sufficient to pass muster under the summary judgment standard, where we view the evidence in the light most favorable to the nonmovant, but it cannot succeed upon review of a bench trial where we review factual findings for clear error. What is perhaps most troubling is Gerald's almost complete reliance on allegations in his complaint to support his arguments on appeal. Although we acknowledge that most of his stated factual contentions are not in dispute, it is inappropriate to rest on conclusory allegations of the complaint at this stage of the game. The district court was permitted to consider all the evidence at trial and make factual findings based on that evidence. We review those findings under a deferential standard, but we cannot engage in a meaningful review of those findings when we only have the trial testimony of one of several witnesses who testified. The government, who was satisfied with the trial court's findings, had no obligation or incentive to order the transcripts. Gerald must convince us that the trial court erred, and he cannot meet this burden without providing us with the record of the bench trial. (In fact, in his reply brief, which was stricken for being late, Gerald urges us to consider cited portions of Dr. Schreiber's testimony, even though it's not in the record.) Without the transcripts, we are unable to evaluate the evidence submitted in this case, Hotaling, 241 F.3d at 581, and cannot conduct a meaningful review of Gerald's claim, see Birchler, 88 F.3d at 519-20. As an alternative to forfeiture, we have the authority under Rule 10(e) to order the plaintiff to supplement the record to include the entire trial transcript. See Fed. R.App. P. 10(e). We have declined to allow supplementation, however, where, as in this case, the plaintiff had ample opportunity to correct the problem, but failed to do so. See Learning Curve Toys, Inc. v. PlayWood Toys, Inc., 342 F.3d 714, 731 n. 10 (7th Cir.2003); see also RK Co. v. See, 622 F.3d 846, 853 (7th Cir.2010) (dismissing appeal where appellant was given ample time to correct the omission of the relevant transcript and failed to do so). In its response brief and at oral argument, the government pointed out that Gerald violated Rule 10(b)(2) by submitting an incomplete record on appeal. Despite notice of the government's objection to the incomplete record, Gerald made no attempt to supplement the record. His claim is therefore forfeited.