2.3.3 FORMATCONSIDERATIONS

During recent years, many courts have begun using their local rules to ask for a separate statement of the appellate standard of review. The Pennsylvania Rules of Appellate Procedure, for example, require that a statement of “both the scope of review and the standard of review” appear in the appellant’s brief, “separately and distinctly entitled,” between sections containing the “order or other determination in question” and the “[s]tatement of the questions involved.”³⁴The Federal Rules of Appellate Procedure now require that for each issue, the argument must contain “a concise statement of the applicable standard of review (which may appear in the discussion of the issue or under a separate heading placed before the discussion of the issues).”³⁵The Rules of Court for the Kansas Supreme Court require that within the Appellant’s Brief, “[e]ach issue must begin with citation to the appropriate standard of appellate review and a reference to the specific location in the record on appeal where the issue was raised and ruled on.”³⁶ If the local rules do not demand a separate statement, the standard should at least be included in introductory material within the argument.

In most situations, the statement of the appellate standard of review requires no more than a paragraph. As noted previously, however, if the standard is controversial or if it is otherwise significant to your argument, it should be treated like any other major issue, with appropriate point headings and text used to make the point. This method should be used even if the local rules require a separate, formal statement of the standard.