8.6 SUMMARY
Format requirements are not intellectually demanding, but they do take time and require attention to detail. Whenever you file a brief, make sure that you have access to all relevant rules and allow yourself time to read, understand, and comply with their requirements.
Chapter Eight Review
1. Find and follow (1) relevant rules of procedure; (2) the local rules of the relevant court; and (3) local customs and practices. 2. Pay particular attention to rules about length and electronic filing requirements. 3. If you file electronically, check the filed document to make sure the filing was successful. 4. Be sure to include all required information in certificates of service and, if required, certificates of compliance.
1 Judith D. Fischer, Bareheaded and Barefaced Counsel: Courts React to Unprofessionalism in Lawyers’ Papers, 31 Suffolk U. L. Rev. 1, 31 et seq. (1997) (this article also contains several examples of courts’ reactions to misstatements of law and facts and other failings). See also Judith D. Fischer, Pleasing the Court: Writing Ethical and Effective Briefs (Carolina Academic Press 2005).
2 Booher v. Sheeram, LLC, 937 N.E.2d 392, 394 (Ind. Ct. App. 2010), cited in Above the Law, “Always Follow the Rules” (Dec. 27, 2013), available at http://abovethelaw.com/tag/booher-v-sheeram-llc/. 3In re O’Brien, 312 F.3d 1135, 1136 (9th Cir. 2002). 4Id. at 1137 (citation omitted; emphasis in original). 5 E.g., King County Local Rule 7(b)(4)(F) (discussing working copies, and requiring paper working copies for documents of 500 pages or more). 6See generally Fischer, Bareheaded and Barefaced Counsel, supra note 1, at 27. 7See Fischer, Bareheaded and Barefaced Counsel, supra note 1, at 31-32. 8 Requirements and Suggestions for Typography in Briefs and Other Papers 4, http://www.ca7.uscourts.gov/forms/type.pdf (last accessed May 18, 2018) (citing Ruth Anne Robbins, Painting with Print: Incorporating Concepts of Typographic and Layout Design into the Text of Legal Writing Documents, 2 J.
Assn. Legal Writing Dirs. 108 (2004)). 9For example, the court Web site for King County, Washington, provides detailed instructions for filing electronic working copies: https://www.kingcounty.gov/courts/clerk/documents/efiling.aspx or https://www.kingcounty.gov/~/media/courts/Clerk/docs/misc/eWCwefileddoc.ashx?la=en (last accessed May 18, 2018). Note that if court rules do not forbid it, you may wish to file paper working copies to promote ease of reading. 10E.g., Third Cir. LAR 113.13 11E.g., id. Third Cir. LAR 113.13 12E.g., id. at 113.13(b) (noting that links “may not replace standard citation format”) and 113.13(c) (“Hyperlinks do not replace paper copies of the appendix”). 13See the sample appellate briefs in Appendix C, at page 1, for an example of this type of internal caption. As indicated above, briefs of the United States Solicitor General’s Office typically include an internal caption (though others do as well). See, e.g., National Association of Manufacturers v. Department of Defense, 2017 WL 3412010 (U.S.), 1 (U.S. 2017) (note that the internal caption is shown only on the “original [PDF] image,” and not on the Westlaw version of the document. 14 See the jurisdictional statement in the sample briefs in Appendix C, and accompanying annotation, for information about the most common relevant statutes. 15See Section 8.4.17 for discussion of Supreme Court rule requirements for the appendix. 16See the sample briefs in Appendix C for examples of correct citations within the statement of the case. 17See, e.g., Ruggero J. Aldisert, Winning on Appeal 84-89 (rev. 1st ed., Natl. Inst. Trial Advoc. 1996); Carole C. Berry, Effective Appellate Advocacy: Brief Writing and Oral Argument 107 (3d ed., Thomson/West 2003). 18E.g., L.R. 5-4.33, Local Civil Rules for the United States District Court for the Central District of California. 19E.g., id. L.R. 5-4.33, Local Civil Rules for the United States District Court for the Central District of California 20E.g., id. (noting that links “may not replace standard citation format”). 21See Section 8.5.17 for discussion of requirements for the appendix. 22See the sample briefs in Appendix C for examples of correct citations within the statement of the case. 23E.g., Rule 5.1(D), Rules of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Florida, available at http://www.flnd.uscourts.gov/sites/default/files/local_rules/local_rules.pdf (last accessed May 29, 2018) (“A document filed by an attorney must include a signature block with the attorney’s handwritten or electronic signature”). 24 Me. R. Civ. P. 5(k), available athttp://www.courts.maine.gov/rules_adminorders/rules/text/MRCivPPlus/mr_civ_p_5_plus_9-2012.pdf(last accessed May 18, 2018).
25 E.g., Rules of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Florida, supra note 23, at Rule 5.1(F). 26See Rule 31.1(c) of the Local Appellate Rules of the Third Circuit.