Rule 25 - Structure and Content(a)Appellant.The brief of appellant shall consist of three parts:
(1) Part One shall contain a succinct and accurate statement of the proceedings below and the material facts relevant to the appeal; a citation of the parts of the record or transcript essential to a consideration of the errors; and a statement of the method by which each enumeration of error was preserved for consideration. Parties are encouraged but not required to include a summary of argument section in their briefs.(2) Part Two shall consist of the enumeration of errors and shall contain a statement of jurisdiction as to why this Court, and not the Supreme Court, has jurisdiction. A separately filed enumeration of errors is not required.(3) Part Three shall contain the argument and citation of authorities. It shall also include a concise statement of the applicable standard of review with supporting authority for each issue presented in the brief. (b) Appellee.The brief of appellee shall be divided in the following manner:
(1) Part One shall point out any material inaccuracy or incompleteness of appellant's statement of facts and any additional statement of facts deemed necessary, plus citations to additional parts of the record or transcript deemed material. Failure to do so shall constitute consent to a decision based on the appellant's statement of facts. Except as controverted, appellant's statement of facts may be accepted by this Court as true.(2) Part Two shall contain appellee's argument and the citation of authorities as to each enumeration of error. It shall also include the standard of review if different from that contended by the appellant.(c) General Provisions.(1)Sequence of Arguments.The sequence of arguments in the briefs shall follow the order of the enumeration of errors, and shall be numbered accordingly.
(2) Unsupported Claim of Error; References to Record and Transcripts.Any enumeration of error that is not supported in the brief by citation of authority or argument may be deemed abandoned.
(i) Each enumerated error shall be supported in the brief by specific reference to the record or transcript. In the absence of a specific reference, the Court will not search for and may not consider that enumeration.(ii) A contention that certain matters are not supported by the record may be answered by reference to particular volume and pages where the matters appear.(3) Citations to the record.Reference to a paper record should be indicated by the volume number of the appellate record and the trial court's stamped page number (Vol. Number - Stamped Number; for example, V2-46).
Reference to an electronic record should be indicated by the volume number of the electronic record and the PDF page number within that volume (Vol. Number - PDF Page Number; for example, V2-46).
Citations to audio and video recordings should identify the recording itself according to its location in the record and specify the relevant portion of the recording by indicating the time range during which the cited material is found.
(4) Sealing Briefs or Motions.No briefs or motions shall be filed under seal unless counsel has moved the Court for permission to file under seal and the Court has granted the motion.
Rule amended February 23, 2017; amended Effective February 17, 2021.