Opinion
DA 22-0146
07-07-2022
ORDER
This Court reviews briefs to ensure compliance with Rules 11 and 12 of the Montana Rules of Appellate Procedure. After reviewing the Appellant's opening brief filed electronically on July 6, 2022, this Court has determined that the brief does not comply with the below-referenced 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. 12(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 statement of facts section in the Appellant's brief contains one citation, following the last sentence, stating only "See Trial Transcript." This is not a sufficient citation to the record.
Therefore, IT IS ORDERED that the referenced brief is rejected.
IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that within ten (10) days of the date of this Order the Appellant shall electronically file with the Clerk of this Court a revised brief containing the revisions necessary to comply with the specified Rules and that the Appellant shall serve copies of the revised brief on all parties 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; 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 is directed to provide a true copy of this Order to the Appellant and to all parties of record.