(a) Cases Ready to Schedule. A case is ready to be placed on the calendar after the appellee's principal brief is filed or the time for filing the appellee's principal brief has expired. After a case is ready to be scheduled, it will be heard or considered on the briefs at the next available term. If no party requests oral argument by the date set by the clerk, the matter will be considered on the briefs unless the Court orders otherwise.(b) Time Allowed for Argument. Each side has the opportunity for oral argument. The Court determines the amount of time allowed each side. Counsel may request additional time, which will be liberally granted if necessary for the adequate presentation of argument. Requests for additional time may be made by motion reasonably in advance of argument. A party need not use all of the time allowed, and the Court may terminate the argument when it decides further argument is unnecessary.(c) In-Person Argument. Unless otherwise ordered under (d), all full-Court arguments will be scheduled for in-person participation by all parties.(d) Remote Argument. When a party is incarcerated and self-represented, the argument will be scheduled for remote audio or video participation by all parties. In all other cases, the Court may grant a motion for one or more parties to participate remotely for good cause. The motion must be filed as soon as possible but no later than 7 days prior to the scheduled argument date. In the event of a technology failure during a remote argument, the Court may reschedule the oral argument, consider the case without oral argument, or take other appropriate action.(e) Order and Contents of Argument. The appellant opens and concludes the argument. Counsel must not read at length from briefs, records, or authorities, but may read any parts of the evidence that may be necessary to show the points relied on. (f) Cross-Appeals and Separate Appeals. If there is a cross-appeal, Rule 28(g) determines which party is the appellant and which is the appellee for purposes of oral argument. A cross-appeal or separate appeal must be argued when the initial appeal is argued unless the Court directs otherwise. Separate appellants who support the same argument should avoid duplicative argument. (g) Number of Counsel To Be Heard. Only one counsel will be heard for each party on the argument of a case, except by leave of the Court. (h) Amicus Curiae. By leave of the Court, counsel for an amicus curiae whose brief has been filed under Rule 29 may, with the consent of a party, argue orally on the side of that party. The consent of the party must specify how much the time will be allocated to amicus curiae counsel. In the absence of consent, amicus curiae counsel may argue orally only by leave of the Court, which will be granted only in extraordinary circumstances. If the motion is granted, counsel for the opposing party will be granted an equal amount of additional time for oral argument. (i) Nonappearance of Parties. If the appellee fails to appear for argument, the Court will hear appellant's argument. If the appellant fails to appear for argument, the Court may hear the appellee's argument. If neither party appears, the case will be decided on the briefs, unless the Court orders otherwise. (j) Submission on Briefs. The parties may agree to submit a case for decision on the briefs, but the Court may direct that the case be argued. All small claims appeals will be submitted for decision on the briefs unless the Court orders otherwise. A request for oral argument by a small claims party may be made at any time up to 30 days after the deadline for filing the appellee's brief. (k) Use of Physical Exhibits at Argument; Removal. Counsel intending to use physical exhibits other than documents at the argument must arrange to place them in the courtroom on the day of the argument before the Court convenes. After the argument, counsel must remove the exhibits from the courtroom, unless the Court directs otherwise. The clerk may destroy or dispose of exhibits that are not reclaimed within a reasonable time after the clerk gives notice to remove them. (l)Public Access to Oral Arguments. Unless otherwise ordered by the Court for a specific case, all oral arguments are open to the public. In a case in which the public did not have access to proceedings in the trial court or administrative board or agency, oral advocates must reference all parties, witnesses, or other persons involved in the case by initials and not by full names.Amended Dec. 28, 1981, eff. 3/1/1982; 10/21/1983, eff. 1/1/1984; 12/12/1985, eff. 4/1/1986; 1/14/1986, eff. 3/1/1986; 2/22/1996, eff. 7/1/1996; 6/11/2013, eff. 9/3/2013; amended July 13, 2021, eff. 8/17/2021; amended August 9, 2022, eff. 10/1/2022.Reporter's Notes-2021 Amendment
By tradition and practice, all arguments to the Supreme Court occur in open court, and the public may attend the argument. The arguments are audio recorded, and the audio is available to the public. This practice has included arguments in cases that are heard in cases that in the trial court are heard in a closed courtroom and are not open to the public. To protect the privacy of the litigants and other persons in the proceeding, the briefs of the parties are not accessible to the public, and the Supreme Court has required that parties and their advocates not identify parties or witnesses by name during oral argument, using initials or the person's functional designation instead, and the case title uses initials instead of names. The Court's decision, which is also public, uses initials instead of names. The tradition and practice represent a balance between transparency of court proceedings and privacy of litigants and witnesses. This addition of subdivision (j) codifies the practice.