Opinion
DA 21-0569
02-11-2022
IN THE MATTER OF G.M.P., An Alleged Incapacitated Person.
ORDER
This Court reviews briefs to ensure compliance with Rules II and 12 of the Montana Rules of Appellate Procedure. After reviewing the Appellant's opening brief filed on February 11, 2022, this Court has determined that the brief does not comply with the Rules and must be resubmitted.
M. R. App. P. 2(4) requires the caption of an appeal to "list the parties in the same order as the caption used in the district court, with the addition of the designations 'appellant' and 'appellee' as appropriate/' The Appellant's opening brief has changed the caption from that used in the district court.
M. R. App. P. l2(1)(a) requires the brief of an appellant to contain 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'' The Appellant's opening brief does not contain a table of contents or a table of authorities.
M. R. App. P. l2(1)(d) requires a "statement of the facts relevant to the issues presented for review, with references to the pages or the parts of the record at which material facts appear/' The Appellant's statement of the facts contains insufficient citations to the record before the district court.
M. R. App. P, l2(1)(e) requires a "statement of the standard of review as to each issue raised, together with a citation of authority." The Appellant's standard of review contains no citations to authority. M. R. App. P. 12(1)(g) requires a brief to contain an argument section, distinct from the summary of the argument, which contains the "contentions of the appellant with respect to the issues presented and the reasons therefor, with citations to the authorities. statutes, and pages of the record relied on[.]'` The argument section of Appellant's opening brief merely invites the Court to review documents filed by the Appellant in the district court and does not contain the "contentions of the appellant with respect to the issues presented and the reasons therefor, with citations to the authorities, statutes, and pages of the record relied on" that constitute an argument. Therefore, IT IS ORDERED that the signed original and nine copies of the referenced brief be returned for revisions necessary to comply with the specified Rules;
IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that a signed original and nine copies of the revised brief ordered herein be filed within ten (10) days of the date of this Order with the Clerk of this Court and that one copy of the revised brief be served on each counsel of record;
IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that no changes, additions, or deletions other than those specified in this Order may be made to the brief as originally filed;
IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that the postage costs for returning the referenced copies of Appellant's brief will be billed to Appellant by the Clerk of this Court and shall be due and payable upon receipt; and
IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that the times for any subsequent briefing contained in M. R. App. P. 13 shall run from the date of filing of the revised brief.
The Clerk of this Court is directed to mail a true copy of this Order to Appellant and to mail a true copy of this Order to all counsel upon whom the brief was served.