2:6-2. Contents of Appellant's Brief for appeals

2:6-2. Contents of Appellant's Brief for appeals

• (a) Formal Brief. Except as otherwise provided by R. 2:6-4(c)(1) (statement in lieu of brief), by R. 2:9-11 (sentencing appeals), and by paragraph (b) of this rule, the brief of the appellant shall contain the following material, under distinctive titles, arranged in the following order:
  
  • (1) A table of contents, including the point headings to be argued. It is mandatory that any point not presented below be so indicated by including in parenthesis a statement to that effect in the point heading.
  • (2) A table of citations of cases, alphabetically arranged, of statutes and rules and of other authorities.
  • (3) A concise procedural history including a statement of the nature of the proceedings and a reference to the judgment, order, decision, action or rule appealed from or sought to be reviewed or enforced. The appendix page of each document referred to shall be stated. The plaintiff and defendant shall be referred to as such and shall not, except where necessary, be referred to as appellant and respondent.
  • (4) A concise statement of the facts material to the issues on appeal supported by references to the appendix and transcript. The statement shall be in the form of a narrative chronological summary incorporating all pertinent evidence and shall not be a summary of all of the evidence adduced at trial, witness by witness.
  • (5) The legal argument for the appellant, which shall be divided, under appropriate point headings, distinctively printed or typed, into as many parts as there are points to be argued. New Jersey decisions shall be cited to the official New Jersey reports by volume number but if not officially reported that fact shall be stated and unofficial citation made. All other state court decisions shall be cited to the National Reporter System, if reported therein and, if not, to the official report. In the citation of all cases the court and year shall be indicated in parentheses except that the year alone shall be given in citing the official reports of the United States Supreme Court, the Supreme Court of New Jersey, and the highest court of any other jurisdiction.
  • (6) In addition to the foregoing, each brief may include an optional preliminary statement for the purpose of providing a concise overview of the case. The preliminary statement shall not exceed three pages and may not include footnotes or, to the extent practicable, citations.
• (b) Letter Brief. In lieu of filing a formal brief in accordance with paragraph (a) of this rule and except as otherwise provided by R. 2:9-11 (sentencing appeals), the appellant may file a letter brief. Letter briefs shall not exceed 20 pages and shall conform with the requirements of subparagraphs (1), (3), (4) and (5) of paragraph (a). As to any point not presented below a statement to that effect shall be included in parenthesis in the point heading. No cover need be annexed provided that the information required by R. 2:6-6 is included in the heading of the letter.
• (c) All Briefs. All briefs must be plainly legible and must conform with spacing, paper quality, type-size and reproduction requirements set forth in R. 2:6-10.
• (d) Respondent/Cross Appellant's Brief. The respondent/cross appellant shall file a single brief both addressing the cross appeal and answering the appellant's brief.