Supreme Court of the State of Montana

Format

Type

Times New Roman 14 pt, double-spaced

Margins

1-inch margins

Opening brief

10,000 words

Reply brief

5,000 words

What counts

Excludes table of contents, table of citations, certificate of service, certificate of compliance, and appendix

Rules

Montana Rules of Appellate Procedure — M. R. App. P. 11(2)-(3); M. R. App. P. 11(4)(a), (d)

Parts of the brief, in order

1. Cover — Required · M. R. App. P. 11(6)
2. TABLE OF CONTENTS — Required · M. R. App. P. 12(1)(a)
3. TABLE OF AUTHORITIES — Required · M. R. App. P. 12(1)(a)
4. STATEMENT OF THE ISSUES — Required · M. R. App. P. 12(1)(b)
5. STATEMENT OF THE CASE — Required · M. R. App. P. 12(1)(c)
6. STATEMENT OF THE FACTS — Required · M. R. App. P. 12(1)(d)
7. STANDARD OF REVIEW — Required · M. R. App. P. 12(1)(e)
8. SUMMARY OF THE ARGUMENT — Required · M. R. App. P. 12(1)(f)
9. ARGUMENT — Required · M. R. App. P. 12(1)(g)
10. CONCLUSION — Required · M. R. App. P. 12(1)(h)
11. CERTIFICATE OF COMPLIANCE — Required · M. R. App. P. 11(4)(e)
12. CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE — Required · M. R. App. P. 10
13. APPENDIX — Required · M. R. App. P. 12(1)(i)

Argument headings: Argument contains appellant's contentions on each issue with reasons and citations to authorities and record.

Standard of review: Separate statement of the standard of review for each issue, with citation of authority (M. R. App. P. 12(1)(e)).

Record citations: Part and page, e.g., (Answer, p. 7) / (Transcript, p. 231) — M. R. App. P. 12(9)

Appendix

Required. Pages are numbered like App. 12. (M. R. App. P. 12(1)(i))

• judgment/order(s) appealed from
• findings of fact and conclusions of law
• jury instruction(s) or ruling(s) at issue
• written memorandum or rationale of the court
• transcript pages containing any oral ruling

Appendix excluded from word count; may reproduce documents in original or reduced legible size.

Certificates

• Compliance: Certify line spacing, typeface and point size, and word count (or monospaced page count)
• Service: Certificate of service

Good to know

• Monospaced alternative: max 10.5 cpi, 30 pages principal / 14 pages reply.
• Reply confined to new matter raised in appellee's brief; only one reply allowed (M. R. App. P. 12(3)).
• No intermediate appellate court in Montana.

Filing: Montana Supreme Court electronic filing (confirm mandatory status)