Me. R. App. P. 7A
Me. R. App. P. 7A
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 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.
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.