Rule RAP 32 - Organization and Content of Briefs(A)Appellant's Opening Brief. An appellant's opening brief must contain the following sections, in the following order. (1) An introduction indicating the nature of the case and a statement concerning oral argument indicating whether the appellant desires oral argument and why appellant believes that oral argument would or would not be helpful to the court in deciding the issues presented. The combination of the introduction and statement concerning oral argument shall not exceed one page and shall not count towards the word or page limit.(2) A statement of points and authorities, which shall set forth, succinctly and in the order in which they are discussed in the body of the argument, the appellant's contentions with respect to each issue of law relied upon for a reversal, listing under each the authorities cited on that point and the respective pages of the brief on which the argument appears and on which the authorities are cited.(3) A statement of the case consisting of a summary of the facts and procedural events relevant and necessary to an understanding of the issues presented by the appeal, with ample references to the specific location in the record supporting each of the statements contained in the summary.(4) An argument conforming to the statement of points and authorities, with ample references to the specific location in the record and citations of authority pertinent to each issue of law and which shall contain at the beginning of the argument a statement with reference to the record showing whether the issue was properly preserved for review and, if so, in what manner.(5) A conclusion setting forth the specific relief sought from the appellate court.(6) A signature by an attorney of record for the party submitting the brief or, for a party proceeding pro se, by the party.(7) An appendix that conforms with section (E) of this rule.(B)Appellee's Response Brief. An appellee's response brief must contain the following sections: (1) A statement concerning oral argument responsive to appellant's statement indicating why appellee believes that oral argument would or would not assist the Court in deciding the issues presented. The response brief may also contain an introduction indicating the nature of the case. The combination of the introduction and statement concerning oral argument shall not exceed one page.(2) A counterstatement of points and authorities in the same format required for appellant's statement of authorities.(3) A counterstatement of the case stating whether the appellee accepts the appellant's statement of the case and, if not, setting forth the matters the appellee considers essential to a fair and adequate statement of the case in accordance with the requirements for appellant's statement of the case.(4) An argument conforming to appellee's counterstatement of points and authorities and to the requirements for appellant's argument.(5) A signature by an attorney of record for the party submitting the brief or, for a party proceeding pro se, by the party.(6) An appendix that conforms with section (E) of this rule may be attached.(C)Other briefs.(1) Other briefs permitted by these rules shall have a statement of authorities conforming to paragraph (A)(2) of this rule, shall state the purpose of the brief and the particular issues to which it is directed, and shall contain an argument consistent with paragraph (A)(4) of this rule. The brief shall conclude with a statement of the relief sought, if pertinent, and may contain an appendix conforming to section (E) of this rule.(2) Reply briefs must be confined to points raised in the briefs to which they are addressed and must not reiterate arguments already presented.(3) A cross-appellant's reply brief may respond only to the portion of the cross-appellee's response brief(s) regarding issues raised in the cross-appeal.(D)Briefs of five pages or less. A statement of points and authorities is not required for a brief of 5 pages or less, but is required for briefs of more than 5 pages.(E)Requirements for the Appendix to a Brief.(1)Record Appendix.(a)Documents required in appendix to appellant's and cross-appellant's initial brief. An appellant and a cross-appellant must attach an appendix to the party's initial brief. The first item of the appendix shall be a listing or index of all documents included in the appendix. The appellant shall place the judgment, opinion, or order under review immediately after the appendix list so that it is most readily available to the court. The appendix shall contain copies of the findings of fact, conclusions of law, and judgment of the trial court, any written opinions filed by the trial court in support of the judgment, and the opinion or opinions of the court from which the appeal is taken. In workers' compensation cases the appendix shall include the opinions of the Administrative Law Judge, the Workers' Compensation Board, and the Court of Appeals.(b)Permissible documents to include in brief appendix. Additional items may be included in an appendix to appellant's initial brief, and an appendix may be attached to briefs following the appellant's initial brief. The appendix may contain papers or exhibits in the appellate record to which ready reference may be considered by the appellant as helpful to the appellate court. Parties should not include documents in an appendix that have been attached to a previously filed brief in the same appeal, unless it is a required document under paragraph (E)(1)(a) above(c)Items not included in the record. Except for matters of which the appellate court may take judicial notice, materials and documents not included in the record shall not be introduced or used as exhibits in support of briefs.(d)Required index and tabs for appendix. The first item of the appendix shall be a listing or index of all documents included in the appendix. The index shall set forth where each document may be found in the record. The items in the appendix shall be separated by appropriate extruding tabs.(e)Unpublished Opinions. Like other items in the appendix, unpublished opinions that are required to be attached to briefs as set forth in RAP 41(C) shall be listed in the index to the appendix and separated by extruding tabs.(2)Evidentiary Appendix. Appellants and appellees may attach to their briefs an appendix of the evidence that consists of a transcription of video recorded evidence or other court proceeding. The purpose of an evidentiary appendix is to facilitate the efforts of each appellate judge in studying the briefs in a meaningful way. (a)Content. An evidentiary appendix shall contain transcriptions of only those parts of the video recording that support the specific issues or contentions raised in a brief on appeal, or that relate to a question of whether an alleged error was properly preserved for appellate review.(b)Length. The filing of an evidentiary appendix and index attached to a brief shall not exceed 50 pages if filed in the Supreme Court, nor 25 pages if filed in the Court of Appeals, except that an evidentiary appendix and index attached to a reply brief shall not exceed 15 pages.(c)References to the Record. Either at the top of each page of an evidentiary appendix or in an index at the beginning of an evidentiary appendix, there shall be references to any witnesses whose testimony is transcribed along with video recording references to the beginning and ending of any transcribed testimony.Adopted by order 2022-49, eff. 1/1/2023.