The United States Supreme Court rules specify exactly what elements are to be included in every type of brief submitted to it, from a brief petitioning for a writ of certiorari to a petitioner’s reply brief on the merits.

The Federal Rules of Appellate Procedure and rules of state supreme courts lay out similar guidelines. This section will focus on the document requirements of a petitioner’s brief on the merits, which are described in Supreme Court Rule 24.

In practice, the party filing the responsive brief—whether it is an appellee’s brief or a respondent’s brief—is allowed to omit certain segments of the brief (e.g., the jurisdictional statement, the fact statement, or the opinions below) if he or she agrees with the other party as to that information. In most appellate advocacy courses, however, students on each side of the case are required to complete all segments of the document for pedagogical reasons. Whether in practice or in class, you must learn and follow the local rules.