(A) Appellant's Brief. Appellant's brief shall contain, under appropriate headings, and in the order here indicated:(1) A cover page, which shall contain: (a) The case caption, including the name of the court, the names of the parties together with their respective party designation (e.g., "Appellant" or "Appellee"), the court of appeals' case number, the name of the trial court and the trial court case number from which the appeal is taken;(b) The title of the document (e.g., Brief for Appellant);(c) The name, address, phone number and Ohio Supreme Court registration number of counsel representing the party on whose behalf the brief is being filed, or, if a party is not represented by counsel, the name, address and phone number of the party filing the brief;(d) The name of the party or parties on whose behalf the document is being filed;(e) If the appeal is an App.R. 11.2 expedited appeal, the cover shall contain the following designation: "App.R. 11.2 Appeal" and(f) If the party requests oral argument, "ORAL ARGUMENT REQUESTED" shall be included on the cover of the brief-in-chief as required by App.R. 21 and Local Rule 21.(2) 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.(3) A statement of the assignments of error. The assignments of error may be single spaced.(4) A statement of the issues presented. The statement of the issues shall be a succinct, clear, and accurate statement of the arguments made in the body of the brief. See Appendix B.(5) A statement of the case. The statement shall indicate briefly the nature and history of the case, where it was filed, and the result below.(6) A statement of the facts. The statement of the facts shall be relevant to the assignments of error presented for review. It should always be completely accurate, contain reference to all material facts, both favorable and unfavorable, and each fact stated should be supported by references to the record in accordance with subsection (F) of this rule. See Appendix B.(7) Argument and law. The argument shall contain the contentions of the appellant with respect to the assignments of error and the supporting reasons with citations to the authorities and statutes on which the appellant relies. Each assignment of error shall be separately discussed and shall include the standard or standards of review applicable to that assignment of error under a separate heading placed before the discussion of the issues.(8) A short conclusion stating the precise relief sought.(9) A signature of counsel or unrepresented party submitting the brief.(10) A certificate of service.(11) An appendix at the end of the brief. Any item included in the appendix must be cited in the brief.(a) The appendix shall consist of legibly reproduced copies of the following items only: (i) The judgment entry appealed from;(ii) Any opinion of the court announcing the decision reflected by the judgment entry appealed from;(iii) Any written findings of fact and conclusions of law in the record on appeal;(iv) All magistrate decisions containing findings of fact and recommendations which are partially or totally adopted by the court in its final order; and(v) If it would aid the judges' understanding of an issue on appeal, a map or diagram, properly admitted into evidence and made a part of the trial court record, may be included in the appendix.(b) Each page in the appendix shall be sequentially numbered. Numbering shall begin with the first item in the appendix and continue through the last item (e.g., A-1, A-2, A-3, etc.). References in the brief to any item that is contained in the appendix shall include the specific page(s) to which the court should refer.(c) Unreported and unpublished cases, statutes, rules, regulations, ordinances, and constitutional provisions shall not be included in the appendix.(B) Appellee's Brief. The brief of the appellee shall conform to the requirements set forth in subsection (A) of this rule except that a statement of the issues and a statement of the case, or of the facts relevant to the issues, need not be made unless the appellee determines that the statements provided by the appellant are not complete or accurate. Appellee's Brief does not need to include an appendix if the materials that would be required are already attached to appellant's brief.(C) Reply Briefs. Reply briefs shall be restricted to matters in rebuttal of the appellee's brief. Proper rebuttal is confined to new matters in the appellee's brief. Reply briefs must conform to the requirements set forth in subsection (A) of this rule except that the reply brief need not set forth the statement of the issues, statement of the case, statement of the facts, or appendix materials already attached to appellant's or appellee's brief.(D) References to the Record. References to the pertinent parts of the record shall be included in the statement of facts and in the argument section of the brief. If a party fails to include a reference to a part of the record that is necessary to the court's review, the court may disregard the assignment of error or argument. References must be sufficiently specific so as to identify the exact location in the record of the material to which the court must refer and, where applicable, shall include the title of the item, volume or reel number, and page or counter number.(E) Case Citations. Case citations must include volume number, page number, and the particular page numbers relevant to the point of law for which the case is cited. Where available, case citations must include the webcite and paragraph reference in accordance with the Supreme Court of Ohio's citation format.(F) Failure to Comply. A brief not prepared in accordance with these rules, including the general appellate rules, may be stricken with an order for a conforming brief to be filed within a specified time. An appellant's failure to conform may result in dismissal of the appeal; an appellee's failure to conform may result in the brief being stricken and the right to argue being denied.Adopted eff. 1/1/2008; amended eff. 1/1/2010; amended eff. 2/1/2017; amended eff. 1/1/2022.