Opinion
DA 23-0054
03-20-2023
THE MARY ELLEN DUKE TRUST, dated March 13, 1997, MILLARD COX, MINA COX, and TROUT CREEK RANCH, Plaintiffs and Appellees. v. LEE LOU, LLC, a Montana limited liability company, Defendant and Appellant.
ORDER
Dirk Sandefur Justice, Montana Supreme Court
This Court reviews briefs to ensure compliance with Rules 11 and 12 of the Montana Rules of Appellate Procedure. After reviewing Appellant's opening brief filed electronically on March 17, 2023, this Court has determined that the brief does not comply with the below-referenced Rules and must be resubmitted.
M. R. App. P. 12(1)(c) requires a statement of the case that indicates briefly the nature of the case and its procedural disposition in the court below. M. R. App. P. 12(1)(d) requires a statement of the facts that contains references to the pages or parts of the record where the facts appear. Both the statement of the case and the statement of the facts portions of the brief must be contained under separate, appropriate headings. Appellant's opening brief contains the information for the statement of the case and the statement of the facts under one "Introduction" heading. The current "Introduction" section of Appellant's opening brief should be appropriately split into "Statement of the Case" and "Statement of the Facts" sections to comply with M. R. App. P. 12(1)(c) and (d).
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 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 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 Appellant and to all parties of record.