District/Municipal Courts Rules for Appellate Division Appeals  Rule 16: Briefs

The brief of the appellant shall contain under appropriate headings and in the order here indicated:

(1) In all briefs of twenty pages or more, a table of contents, with page references, and a table of cases (alphabetically arranged), statutes and other authorities cited, with references to the pages of the brief where they are cited.

(2) A statement of the issues presented for review.

(3) A statement of the case, which shall first indicate briefly the nature of the case, the course of proceedings, and its dispositions in the trial court. There shall follow a statement of the facts relevant to the issues presented for review with appropriate references to the record (see subdivision (e)).

(4) The argument, which shall contain the contentions of the appellant with respect to the issues presented, and the reasons therefor, with citations to the authorities, statutes and parts of the record relied on. In a brief of more than twenty-four pages of argument, there shall be a short summary of argument, suitably paragraphed and with page references to later material in the brief dealing with the same subject matter, which should be a condensation of the argument actually made in the body of the brief and not a mere repetition of the headings under which the argument is arranged. The Appellate Division need not pass upon questions or issues not argued in the brief. Nothing argued in the brief shall be deemed to be waived by a failure to argue orally.

(5) A short conclusion stating the precise relief sought.

(6) In cases where geographical facts are of importance, unless appropriate plans are reproduced in the printed record or record appendix, an outline plan or chalk (preferably based on exhibits in evidence) shall be included. This outline plan should be suitable for reproduction on one page of the printed law reports.

(7) The names, addresses, and telephone numbers of individual counsel to which firm names may be added.

The brief of the appellee shall conform to the requirements of subdivision (a)(1)-(4), (6) and (7), except that a statement of the issues or of the case need not be made unless the appellee is dissatisfied with the statement of the appellant.

The appellant may file a brief in reply to the brief of the appellee, and if the appellee has cross-appealed, the appellee may file a brief in reply to the response of the appellant to the issues presented by the cross appeal. No further briefs may be filed except with leave of the Appellate Division. Reply briefs shall comply with the requirements of Rule 16(a)(1).

Counsel will be expected in their briefs and oral arguments to keep to a minimum references to parties by such designations as "appellant" and "appellee." It promotes clarity to use the designations used in the lower court, or the actual names of the parties, or descriptive terms such as "the employee," "the injured person," "the taxpayer," "the landlord," etc.

References in the briefs to parts of the record reproduced in an appendix filed with a brief (see Rule 18(a)) shall be to the pages of the appendix at which those parts appear.

If the record is reproduced in accordance with the provisions of Rule 18(f), or if references are made in the briefs to parts of the record not reproduced, the references shall be to the pages of the parts of the record involved; e.g., Answer p. 1, Motion for Judgment p. 2, Transcript p. 231. Intelligible abbreviations may be used. If reference is made to evidence the admissibility of which is in controversy, reference shall be made to the pages of the appendix or of the transcript at which the evidence was identified, offered, and received or rejected. No statement of a fact of the case shall be made in any part of the brief without an appropriate and accurate record reference.

If determination of the issues presented requires consideration of constitutional provisions, statutes, rules, regulations, etc. or relevant parts thereof, they shall be reproduced in the brief or in an addendum at the end.

Massachusetts Reports between 17 Massachusetts and 97 Massachusetts shall be cited by the name of the reporter. Any other citation shall include, wherever reasonably possible, a reference to any official report of the case or to the official publication containing statutory or similar material. References to decisions and other authorities should include, in addition to the page at which the decision or section begins, a page reference to the particular material therein upon which reliance is placed, and the year of the decisions; as, for example: 334 Mass. 593, 597-598 (1956). Quotations of Massachusetts statutory material shall include a citation to either the Acts and Resolves of Massachusetts or to the current edition of the General Laws published pursuant to a resolve of the General Court.

Except by permission of the Appellate Division, principal briefs shall not exceed fifty pages of standard typographic printing, or seventy pages of reproduction by any other process of duplicating or copying, exclusive of pages containing the table of contents, tables of citations and any addendum containing statutes, rules, regulations, etc. Except by permission of the Appellate Division, reply briefs shall not exceed twenty-five pages of standard typographic printing or thirty-five pages or reproduction by any other process of duplicating or copying.

If a cross appeal is filed, the plaintiff in the trial court shall be deemed the appellant for purposes of this rule and Rules 18 and 19, unless the parties otherwise agree or the Appellate Division otherwise orders. The brief of the appellee shall contain the issues and argument involved in his or her appeal as well as the answer to the brief of the appellant.

In cases involving more than one appellant or appellee, including cases consolidated for purposes of the appeal, any number of either may join in a single brief, and any appellant or appellee may adopt by reference any part of the brief of another. Parties may similarly join in reply briefs.

A brief not in compliance with this rule may be struck from the files by the Appellate Division.

When pertinent and significant authorities come to the attention of a party after his or her brief has been filed, or after oral argument but before decision, a party may promptly advise the Appellate Division, by letter, with a copy to all counsel, setting forth the citations. There shall be a reference either to the page of the brief or to a point argued orally to which the citations pertain, but the letter shall without argument state the reasons for the supplemental citations. Any response shall be made promptly and shall be similarly limited.

This rule is identical to Mass. R.A.P. 16, with the following exceptions: (1) all references in the latter to "appellate court", "court," and "appellate court or a single justice" have been changed to "Appellate Division;" (2) the second sentence of section (e) has been deleted; (3) references to "court below" in section (i) have been changed to "trial court"; and (4) references to "clerk of court" in section (l) have been changed to "Appellate Division."