First Adopted: June 13, 1979
Most Recently Effective: January 01, 2024
Rule 84 | Rules of Civil Procedure | Rules Relating to All Appellate Courts | Procedure in All Appellate Courts
84.06 | Form of Briefs
(a) Size – Type – Form. A brief shall conform to Rule 84.03(b) in addition to the requirements of this Rule.
(b) Length. Except as provided by local court rules, the length of briefs shall be as follows: Appellant's initial brief and all briefs in a cross appeal except the reply brief shall not exceed 31,000 words. Respondent's brief shall not exceed 27,900 words; Appellant's reply brief shall not exceed 7,750 words.
All material contained in the brief except the cover, any certificate required by Rule 84.06(c), signature block, and appendix count toward the word limitations.
(c) Certification. A brief submitted under this Rule 84.06 shall contain a certificate of compliance by the lawyer or self-represented person that:
(1) Includes the information required by Rule 55.03;
(2) Includes information as to how the brief was served on the opposing party, whether pursuant to Rule 43.01(c) or Rule 103.08;
(3) States that the brief complies with the limitations contained in Rule 84.06(b); and
(4) States the number of words in the brief.
The person preparing the certificate may rely on the word count of the word-processing system used to prepare the brief.
(Adopted June 13, 1979, effective January 1, 1980. Amended July 27, 1979, effective January 1, 1980; amended August 16, 1983, effective July 1, 1984; amended June 24, 1986, effective January 1, 1987; amended June 1, 1993, effective January 1, 1994; amended May 27, 1999, effective January 1, 2000; amended May 26, 2000, effective January 1, 2001; amended May 23, 2001, effective January 1, 2002; amended June 21, 2002, effective January 1, 2003; amended December 23, 2003, effective July 1, 2004; amended June 27, 2006, effective January 1, 2007; amended June 26, 2007, effective January 1, 2008; amended December 18, 2007, effective July 1, 2008; amended May 19, 2016, effective January 1, 2017; amended June 30, 2017, effective January 1, 2018; amended June 29, 2018, effective January 1, 2019; amended March 7, 2023, effective January 1, 2024.)