Me. R. App. P. 7A

As amended through September 25, 2024

Rule 7A - [Effective 11/1/2024] BRIEFS: FORM AND CONTENT

(a)Brief of the Appellant.

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

(A) A table of contents, with page references

(B) A table of authorities-listing each case, statute, or other authority cited in the brief-with page references.

(C) A short introduction stating the nature of the case. This section is optional.

(D) A statement of the facts of the case, including the procedural history-with citations to the pages in the appendix, transcript, or record that support each fact.

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

(F) A summary of the argument. This section is optional.

(G) An argument. The argument shall contain the contentions of the appellant with respect to the issues presented and the reasons supporting each contention, with citations to the authorities upon which the appellant relies. The argument for each issue presented shall begin with a statement of the standard(s) of appellate review applicable to that issue.

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

(2) A brief shall not include:

(A) any documents or images that are not a part of the trial court file or the record on appeal;

(B) any documents that are, or include, pictures, videos, or other images (i) of persons under 18 years of age, (ii) of adults subject to a guardianship or mental health commitment proceeding, or (iii) that depict nudity or sexual or sexualized acts;

(C) except for a brief prepared by the State in a child protective case, any documents or information made confidential by statute or court order, or made "nonpublic" by the Maine Rules of Electronic Court Systems. Documents or information precluded by this section may be included in a brief only with leave of the Court.

(b)Brief of the Appellee. The brief of the appellee shall conform to the requirements of subdivision (a) of this Rule, except that a statement of the issues and standards of appellate review or of the facts or procedural history of the case need not be included unless the appellee is dissatisfied with the statements of the appellant.

(c)Reply Brief. Any reply brief filed by the appellant must be strictly confined to replying to new facts asserted or arguments raised in the brief of the appellee. No further briefs may be filed except by leave of the Law Court.

(d)Briefs on Cross-Appeals. If a cross-appeal is filed, the brief of the second party to the appeal shall contain the issues and argument involved in the cross-appeal as well as the answer to the brief of the appellant.

(e)Brief of an Amicus Curiae.

(1)General.

(A) Except as provided in paragraph (2) of this subdivision, or when amicus briefs are invited by a notice from the Law Court, a brief of an amicus curiae may be filed only if accompanied by written consent of all parties or by leave of the Law Court. A motion for leave shall identify the interest of the applicant and shall state the reasons why a brief of an amicus curiae is desirable.

(B) An amicus curiae brief shall be filed by the date on which the appellees brief is due to be filed, unless the Law Court, for good cause shown, grants leave for later filing. Any party may file a reply brief addressing new matter raised by an amicus curiae within 14 days after service of the brief of an amicus curiae or within such other time as the Law Court may specify in granting leave for later filing to the amicus curiae.

(C) The motion of an amicus curiae for leave to participate in the oral argument shall be granted only for extraordinary reasons.

(2)Maine Tort Claims Act.

(A) In any action under the Maine Tort Claims Act, 14 M.R.S. §8101 et seq., the Attorney General shall have the right to appear before the Law Court by brief and oral argument as an amicus curiae when the Attorney General is not otherwise appearing on behalf of a party to the action.

(B) Unless all parties otherwise consent, in any such action when the Attorney General has received notice of appeal as provided in Rule 2A(g)(4), the Attorney General shall file an amicus brief within the time allowed the party whose position as to affirmance or reversal the brief will support, unless the Law Court for cause shown shall grant leave for later filing. In that event, the Law Court shall specify within what period an opposing party may reply to the Attorney Generals brief.

(f) Length of Briefs; Attachments.

(1) Page or Word Limits. The principal brief of any party and any amicus brief shall not exceed the greater of 40 pages or 10,000 words, and any reply brief allowed by these Rules shall not exceed 15 pages or 4,500 words, without prior approval of the Law Court, which shall be granted only upon a showing of good cause. An appellees brief that also addresses that appellees cross-appeal shall not exceed the greater of 50 pages or 13,000 words. An appellants reply brief that also responds to an appellees cross-appeal shall not exceed the greater of 30 pages or 9,000 words.

(2) Attachment. The principal brief of an appellant or an appellee may include, as an attachment not exceeding 3 pages, copies of documents, photographs, or diagrams that are part of the trial court record and are not prohibited from inclusion in the brief by Rule 7A(a)(2). Any document, photograph, or diagram included as an attachment may be marked to add emphasis.

(3)Page or Word Limit Calculations. The cover page, the table of contents, the table of authorities, the certificate of service, and any appendix bound with the appellants brief are not counted in calculating the page or word limits set in this Rule.

(g)Form of Briefs.

(1)Signature. At least one paper copy of each party's brief filed with the Law Court shall be signed, in a manner authorized by Rule IC, by an attorney who prepared the brief, or, if the party or parties, or amicus or amici, filing the brief was unrepresented by counsel, by each party or amicus filing the brief.

(2) Form and Formatting. Briefs may be reproduced by standard printing or by any duplicating or copying process capable of producing a clear black image on white paper, with printing on only one side of each page. All printed matter must appear in at least 14-point font on opaque, unglazed paper, except that footnotes and quotations may appear in 11-point font. Pages shall be 8-1/2 x 11 inches with margins of 1 inch on the top, bottom, and each side of the page, and with double spacing between each line of text except for footnotes and block quotations. Briefs must be prepared using a word processor's double space function.

(3)Page Numbering. The pages of the brief must be sequentially numbered, beginning with the cover page as page 1 and using only Arabic numerals for page numbers (i.e., 1, 2, 3), including for the table of contents and table of authorities. Any blank pages must also be numbered. The page number may be suppressed and need not appear on the cover page.

(4)Binding. Briefs shall be bound on the left-hand margin with comb or spiral binding that permits the pages to lie flat when the document is open.

(5)Contents of Front Cover. The front cover of the brief shall contain:

(A) the name of the Supreme Judicial Court sitting as the Law Court and the Law Court docket number of the case;

(B) the title of the case;

(C) the nature of the proceeding before the Law Court (e.g., Appeal; Report; Certified Question) and the name of the court, agency, or other entity from which the appeal is taken or the question is presented;

(D) the title of the document (e.g., Brief for Appellant); and

(E) the names and addresses of counsel representing the party on whose behalf the document is filed or the name and address of the party filing the brief, if not represented by counsel.

(6)Color of Front Cover. The cover of the brief of the appellant shall be blue; that of the appellee, red; that of an intervenor or amicus curiae, green; and that of any reply brief, gray.

(h) Briefs in an Appeal Involving Multiple Appellants or Appellees. In an appeal involving more than one appellant or appellee, including consolidated cases, any number of appellants or appellees may join in a brief, and any party may adopt by reference another's brief or any part thereof. Parties may also join in reply briefs. Adoption of a brief or portion thereof may be by letter to the Clerk of the Law Court, with a copy to all other parties, if the adopting party does not otherwise file a brief. A party adopting another's brief or part thereof shall do so on or before the due date for that party's own brief.

(i)Supplemental legal Authorities After Briefing. If important, relevant legal authorities come to a party's attention after the party's brief has been filed and before a decision resolving the appeal has been issued, the party may promptly advise the Clerk of the Law Court of such by a letter, that sets forth the citations to the supplemental authorities. The letter must state the reasons for providing the supplemental authorities and must refer to the pages of the brief or to any points argued orally that the supplemental authorities address. The body of the letter must not exceed 350 words. The party may file the letter using any method permitted by Rule 10(d) of these Rules and must serve a copy of the letter on all other parties by any method permitted by Rule 5 of the Maine Rules of Civil Procedure. Any response must be made within 7 days and must be similarly limited. The Law Court need not wait for a response.

Me. R. App. P. 7A

Adopted June 6, 2017, effective 9/1/2017; amended October 8, 2021, effective 10/8/2021; amended July 13, 2022, effective 7/13/2022; amended September 25, 2024, effective 11/1/2024.

Advisory Committee Note - November 2024

Several changes are made to Rule 7A. First, headings are added for subdivisions (f) and (f)(1).

Second, a new paragraph (3) is added to subdivision (g) to prescribe the method that parties must use to number the pages of the briefs in order to make navigation of the pdf version of a brief easier. Rule 8(k) is amended simultaneously in a corresponding manner, so that the methods of numbering the pages in the briefs and the appendix are identical.

The difficulty in navigating current pdf versions of briefs was described in a 2017 white paper by the American Bar Association:

A typical [current] example is a brief in which the cover or caption page has no page number, the table of contents and table of authorities have Roman numeral page numbering (i, ii, iii,...), and the body has Arabic numeral page numbering (1, 2, 3,...).

When a brief using this type of pagination is converted to PDF for e-filing, the Arabic page numbers used in the substantive part of the brief do not correlate to the PDF page numbers. For example, a page may be identified in the footer as page "15" but actually be page 21 of the whole document. Page 21 is the page number that will display in the PDF reader and that will be needed to jump to that page, yet page 15 is what it will say in the footer and in references in the table of contents and authorities. Using a different page number in the footer thus makes it more difficult to navigate within the PDF.

This unnecessary obstacle to internal navigation can be avoided by requiring a single run of pagination for the entire brief. The use of Arabic numbers that begin on the first page of the document and continue until the last page is recommended.

American Bar Association Council of Appellate Lawyers, The Leap from E-Filing to E-Briefing: Recommendations and Options for Appellate Courts to Improve the Functionality and Readability of E-Briefs 27 (2017), available at https://www.americanbar.org/content/dam/aba/administrative/appellate_ lawyers/2017_cal_ebrief_report.pdf, [https://perma.cc/32MU-U5R5] (last visited May 17, 2024).

Some courts permit parties to continue to use Roman and Arabic numerals as long as the page number on each page of the electronic version of the brief matches the page number on the printed version. The new paragraph (3) here does not permit that, however, in order to make both the creation and the navigation of the pdf document more straightforward.

Third, former paragraphs (3), (4), and (5) of subdivision (g) are renumbered as paragraphs (4), (5), and (6); the heading of new paragraph (5), governing the cover, is expanded to indicate that the paragraph governs the contents of the cover; and a heading is added to new paragraph (6), which governs the color of the cover.

Fourth, subdivision (i), which governed the filing of a brief on paper and electronically, is repealed. The provisions of former subdivision (i) are now in Rule 7(c).

Fifth, subdivision (j), governing citation of supplemental authorities, is redesignated as Rule 7A(i).

Advisory Committee Note - July 2022

In addition to minor restyling, Rule 7A(a) is amended to add the option of including a short introduction stating the nature of the case; to require citations to the pages in the appendix or transcript-or to the record for documents or exhibits that are not included in the appendix-that support each fact in the statement of the facts; to clarify that a summary of the argument is always optional; to eliminate the requirement of including citations to the appendix or record in the argument section; and to require a short conclusion stating the precise relief sought. An introduction, if included, should be a short statement summarizing the procedural posture of the appeal. For example, "This is an appeal from the grant of the insurer's motion for summary judgment in a slip-and-fall action," or "This is a theft case in which the defendant appeals from the denial of a motion to suppress statements allegedly obtained in violation of his right against self-incrimination," or "The mother appeals after the trial court granted the father's post-divorce motion to amend the divorce judgment to give the father final decision-making authority over medical decisions for the parties' minor children."

Rule 7A(g)(1) is amended to allow an unrepresented party, and not just an attorney, to sign a brief "electronically," and to provide clearer guidance on signatures. The amendment accomplishes this by (1) removing the provisions relating to the effect of a signature and electronic signatures and (2) incorporating by reference new Rule 1C, which governs signatures.

Rule 7A(g)(2) is amended to allow only footnotes to appear in 11-point font and to clarify spacing requirements. The amendment eliminates any ambiguity in the term "double spacing" by providing that briefs must be prepared using a word processor's double space function, rather than by using a word processor's "exactly" line spacing function or other point-based line spacing.

Rule 7A(j) is amended to enlarge the period in which a party may alert the Law Court to newly discovered authorities or new developments in the law that came to the party's attention after briefing. The Rule is further amended to allow a party to electronically file a letter of supplemental authorities and to serve a copy of the letter on other parties by any method provided by Rule 5 of the Maine Rules of Civil Procedure. Additionally, the Rule is amended to require that any response be filed within 7 days and that the Law Court is not required to wait for a response. Although Rule 7A(j) now allows the filing of a letter of supplemental authorities after oral argument, a party may not file such a letter as a form of rebuttal.

Advisory Note - October 2021

Rule 7A(a)(2)(C) is amended to recognize the implementation of an electronic case management and filing system by the Maine Judicial Branch and the adoption of the Maine Rules of Electronic Court Systems.

Restyling Notes - June 2017

Rule 7A is a restyling of Rule 9 in the current Maine Rules of Appellate Procedure. This adjustment allows the rules relating to the form and filing of the briefs to appear together in the Appellate Rules. The heading of the rule is amended to clarify that it applies to form and content of briefs, while Rule 7 relates to scheduling and consideration of briefs.

Rule 7A(a)(2) is new and lists specific items that may not be included in a brief or an attachment to a brief. The listing is similar to the list of items that may not be included in an appendix. See Rule 8(g)(1)-(3). The listing is designed to protect the privacy interests of minors and persons with mental health issues, and to avoid the potential that publicly available briefs or appendices could cause unnecessary embarrassment to parties, victims, witnesses, or other participants in cases that might make such individuals reluctant to seek the access to justice that the courts provide.

Rule 7A(e), addressing amicus briefs, is amended to clarify that when the Law Court invites amicus briefs on a particular appeal, the filing of an amicus brief does not require approval of the parties to the appeal, or the filing of a motion.

In the editing of what is now Rule 7A, the repetitive page limit statements that appeared with each type of brief addressed in the rules are eliminated and replaced with a single page limit statement that now appears at Rule 7A(f)(1). The Rule is also amended to allow, in Rule 7A(f)(2), an attachment to a brief, not exceeding 3 pages, to include copies of documents, photographs, or diagrams that are part of the trial court record. Those items may be marked to add emphasis, even if the emphasis markings do not appear on the original items in the trial court record.

In a substantive change, the permitted length of briefs, provided in Rule 7A(f)(1), is reduced from 50 pages to 40 pages for principal briefs and from 20 pages to 15 pages for reply briefs. New categories added for (1) an appellees brief that also addresses that appellees cross-appeal, with a 50-page limit, and (2) an appellants reply brief that also replies to an appellees cross-appeal, with a 30-page limit. The First Circuit Rules, Fed. R. App. P. 3 7 (a) (7) (A), have limits of 30 pages for principal briefs and 15 pages for reply briefs. The First Circuit generally applies the same page size, spacing and 14-point font requirements as are stated in Rule 7A.

The revised Rule also includes, as an alternative to page limits, word limits of 10,000 for principal briefs, 4,500 for reply briefs, 13,000 for appellees briefs that also argue that appellees cross-appeal, and 9,000 for appellants reply briefs that also respond to an appellees cross-appeal. Longer briefs may be filed with prior approval of the Law Court after filing of a motion demonstrating good cause for having to file a longer brief.

The First Circuit has allowed filing of briefs measured by word limits for several years, with recent changes effective December 1, 2016. See Fed. R. App. P. 28.1(e)(2) and 32(a)(7)(B).

Current Rule 7(c) addressing printed and electronic copies of briefs is moved to become Rule 7A(i). Filing of an electronic copy of a party's brief, which is discretionary in current Rule 7(c)(2), is required in the restyled rules. The reference to "native" .pdf is to indicate the .pdf format that allows cut-and-pasting from a .pdf to a Word document. The .pdf documents do not need to indicate an actual signature, which can only be reproduced using the .pdf picture format. As currently, the filing of an electronic copy of a brief does not alter the obligations to file printed copies of the brief.

A provision is added to Rule 7A(g)(1)(A) indicating that an attorney's or party's signature on the brief constitutes a representation that the filing is in good faith and is in compliance with the rules governing briefing, including page and/or word limits and font size. A specific certificate of compliance with the word limits is required only if a brief exceeds the specified page limits. Rule 7A(g)(1)(B) is added allowing, subject to the conditions specified in the Rule, electronic filing of a certificate of signature in place of an actual signature on a copy of a printed brief.

Rule 7A(j) is added, tracking closely Rule 28(j) of the Federal Rules of Appellate Procedure. The only difference with the federal rule is that the federal rule (1) allows such filings at any time "after oral argument but before decision" and (2) does not address appeals considered without oral argument. Rule 7A(j) now limits such filings to the time "before" oral argument or before 42 days have passed following the date set for filing the appellees brief if a case will be considered on the briefs. Filings after oral argument may occur only if invited by the Court.

[Advisory Notes to former Rule 9, now Rule 7A, of Maine Rules of Appellate Procedure]

Advisory Note - August 2015

All references to the Maine Revised Statutes Annotated in the Maine Rules of Appellate Procedure are updated to refer to the Maine Revised Statutes.

Advisory Note - October 2014

Rule 9(f) is amended to omit the requirement that briefs be printed in Bookman font, to change the minimum size of the font from 12-point font to 14-point font, and to standardize formatting.

Advisory Note - November 2011

The reference [in Rule 9(a)] to "pages" of the record was an outdated reference from the time when the trial court clerks individually numbered each page of the record before forwarding the record to the Law Court pursuant to M.R. App. P. 6. To ease review of briefs, citations to the record should continue to be as precise as possible. Pursuant to the amendment, citations to the record must indicate the particular document or exhibit referenced, including page numbers when page numbers exist.

Advisory Note - November 2011

Rule 9(h) is adopted to establish the proper procedure when one or more parties to an appeal elect to adopt another party's argument or brief. The first two sentences of Rule 9(h) are identical to Fed. R. App. P. 28(i). The last two sentences are added to provide a mechanism for adopting another party's brief when the adopting party is not otherwise filing a brief and to provide the due date for any adoption.

Advisory Notes - August 1, 2009

Rules 9(a) and 9(b) are amended to require that for each issue presented for appeal, the brief also state the standard of appellate review that will be applicable to resolution of each issue. This is to help assure consideration of the proper standard of review for each issue presented on appeal, an area that has been ignored in some brief writing practice. The appellate standard of review for most issues will fall into one of three broad categories: (i) "de novo" review, (ii) "clear error" or "sufficiency of evidence" review, and (iii) "abuse of discretion" or "unreasonable exercise of discretion" review. The law regarding standards of review is addressed in Chapter 4 of Maine Appellate Practice (2008).

Advisory Notes - September 10, 2001

The amendments to subdivision (f) add more specification to the printing and type or font size requirements and make clerical corrections to the original Rule. The signing requirement reflects current practice carried over from previously applicable rule requirements. See M.R. Civ. P. 11.

Advisory Notes - January 1, 2001

Rule 9 tracks very closely the generally comparable provisions of M.R. Civ. P. 75A and M.R. Crim. P. 39B. The key changes from those comparable rules relating to the nature and content of briefs on oral arguments are as follows:

- The reference to an appendix in M.R. Crim. P. 39P(a)(6) is eliminated as the appendix is now governed by M.R. App. P. 8.

- Subdivision (d) of both M.R. Civ. P. 75A and M.R. Crim. P. 39B which relates to reproductions of statutes, rules, regulations, etc. is eliminated. Any supplemental authorities which parties desire to file should be included in a separate supplement, filed with the appendix as specified in M.R. App. P. 8(l).

- A cap of 50 pages is placed on the length of briefs on cross-appeals. M.R. Civ. P. 75A(e) included a 75-page limit. M.R. Crim. P. 39B(e) had no page limit.

- Subdivision (e) relating to briefs of an amicus curiae generally follows the language of M.R. Civ. P. 75A(f). The more expansive language is necessary particularly to accommodate the special provision that needs to be made regarding filing of a brief relating to the Maine Tort Claims Act, which is, of course, unique to civil cases. The more formal approval provisions for filing a civil amicus brief are also included in this rule now applicable to both criminal and civil cases.

- The type or font size requirements addressed in subdivision (f) are designed to achieve clear, easy to read text. Plain roman type or font styles should be used, although italics or boldface may be used for emphasis. Appropriate type styles to use include Bookman, Courier, Geneva, Georgia, or other similar type styles. Type styles such as Arrus, Script, or Times should be avoided.

- Subdivision (g) is added to note, as under present practice, that the pages for the table of contents and table of authorities are not counted in calculating the page limits for the briefs.