Fed. R. App. P.

28(a) - Appellant's Brief

• Briefs filed in 8th Circuit - web links to sample/reference briefs

o Peltier v. FBI, 563 F.3d 754 (2009) -
http://www.leonardpeltier.net/documents/Brief5.pdf
o Faber v. Menard, Inc., 367 F.3d 1048 (2004) -
http://www.citizen.org/documents/brief.pdf
• Must contain, under appropriate headings and in the order
indicated:
 TOC w/pg references
 TOA - cases (alphabetically), statutes, and other authority,
with page references to where they are cited in the brief
 Jurisdictional statement:
• Basis of Court of Appeals' jurisdiction, citing to
applicable statutory provisions and stating relevant facts
establishing jurisdiction
• Filing dates establishing timeliness of appeal
• Assertion that the appeal is from a final order or
judgment that disposes of all parties' claims, or information
establishing the court of appeals' jurisdiction on some other
basis
 Statement of the issues presented for review
• 8th Circuit Local Rule:
(2) STATEMENT OF ISSUES. In addition to the requirement of
FRAP 28(a)(5), the statement of issues shall include for
each issue
a list of the most apposite cases, not to exceed 4, and the
most
apposite constitutional and statutory provisions.
 Statement of the case, briefly indicating the nature of the case,
the course of proceedings, and the disposition below
• 8th Circuit Local Rule: --> ASK PROF. CAMPBELL
ABOUT THIS - 1ST THING IN THE BRIEF?
(1) SUMMARY OF THE CASE. Each appellant must file a
statement not to exceed 1 page providing a summary of the
case, the
reasons why oral argument should or should not be heard,
and the
amount of time (15, 20, or 30 minutes, or in an extraordinary
case,
more than 30 minutes) necessary to present the argument.
The
summary must be placed as the first item in the brief. If
appellee
deems appellant's statement incorrect or incomplete,
appellee may
include a responsive statement in appellee's brief.
 Statement of facts relevant to the issues submitted for review
with appropriate references to the record
  Summary of the argument, which must contain a succinct, clear,
and accurate statement of the arguments made in the body of
the brief, and which must not merely repeat the argument
headings
 The argument, which must contain:
• appellant's contentions and the reasons for them, with
citations to the authorities and parts of the record on which
the appellant relies
• for each issue, a concise statement of the applicable
standard of review (which may appear in the discussion of
the issue or under a separate heading placed before the
discussion of the issues)
• a short conclusion stating the precise relief sought; and
• the certificate of compliance, if required by Rule 32(a)(7)
o Rule 32 requirements:
• Length of brief: principal brief (appellant) may not exceed 30
pages
• Cover of brief (appellant) must be BLUE; bound securely but not
so as to obscure text
• 1-inch margins on all four sides; page numbers may appear in
margins, but not text
• Double-spaced, but quotes of 2+ lines may be indented and
single-spaced.
• Plain Times New Roman font; case names may be italicized or
underlined; font size 14 or larger. (??)