809.19(1)(a)
(a) A table of contents with page references of the various portions of the brief, including headings of each section of the argument, and a table of cases arranged alphabetically, statutes and other authorities cited with reference to the pages of the brief on which they are cited.
809.19(1)(b)
(b) A statement of the issues presented for review and how the trial court decided them.
809.19(1)(c)
(c) A statement with reasons as to whether oral argument is necessary and a statement as to whether the opinion should be published and, if so, the reasons therefor.
809.19(1)(d)
(d) A statement of the case, which must include: a description of the nature of the case; the procedural status of the case leading up to the appeal; the disposition in the trial court; and a statement of facts relevant to the issues presented for review, with appropriate references to the record.
809.19(1)(e)
(e) An argument, arranged in the order of the statement of issues presented. The argument on each issue must be preceded by a one sentence summary of the argument and is to contain the contention of the appellant, the reasons therefor, with citations to the authorities, statutes and parts of the record relied on as set forth in the Uniform System of Citation and
SCR 80.02.
809.19(1)(f)
(f) A short conclusion stating the precise relief sought.
809.19(1)(g)
(g) Reference to an individual by first name and last initial rather than by his or her full name when the record is required by law to be confidential.
809.19(1)(h)
(h) The signature of the attorney who files the brief; or, if the party who files the brief is not represented by an attorney, the signature of that party.
809.19(1)(i)
(i) Reference to the parties by name, rather than by party designation, throughout the argument section.
809.19(2)(a)(a) Contents. The appellant's brief shall include a short appendix providing relevant trial court record entries, the findings or opinion of the trial court and limited portions of the record essential to an understanding of the issues raised, including oral or written rulings or decisions showing the trial court's reasoning regarding those issues. The appendix shall include a table of contents. If the record is required by law to be confidential, the portions of the record included in the appendix shall be reproduced using first names and last initials instead of full names of persons, specifically including juveniles and parents of juveniles, with a notation that the portions of the record have been so reproduced to preserve confidentiality and with appropriate references to the record.
809.19(2)(b)
(b) Certification. An appellant's counsel shall append to the appendix a signed certification that the appendix meets the content requirements of
par. (a) in the following form:
I hereby certify that filed with this brief, either as a separate document or as a part of this brief, is an appendix that complies with
s. 809.19 (2) (a) and that contains: (1) a table of contents; (2) relevant trial court record entries; (3) the findings or opinion of the trial court; and (4) portions of the record essential to an understanding of the issues raised, including oral or written rulings or decisions showing the trial court's reasoning regarding those issues.
I further certify that if the record is required by law to be confidential, the portions of the record included in the appendix are reproduced using first names and last initials instead of full names of persons, specifically including juveniles and parents of juveniles, with a notation that the portions of the record have been so reproduced to preserve confidentiality and with appropriate references to the record.
Signed: ________
Signature
809.19(3)(a)1.1. The respondent shall file a brief within the later of any of the following:
809.19(3)(a)1.a.
a. Thirty days after the date of service of the appellant's brief, and 3 additional days under
s. 801.15 (5) (a) if service is accomplished by mail.
809.19(3)(a)1.b.
b. Thirty days after the date on which the court accepts the appellant's brief for filing.
809.19(3)(a)1.c.
c. Thirty days after the date on which the record is filed in the office of the clerk.
809.19(3)(a)2.
2. The brief must conform with
sub. (1), except that the statement of issues and the statement of the case may be excluded.
809.19(3)(a)3.
3. Within the time limits for filing a respondent's brief, a party who has been designated as a respondent may file a statement with the court that it will not be filing a brief because its interests are not affected by the issues raised in the appellant's brief or because its interests are adequately represented in another respondent's brief.
809.19(3)(b)
(b) The respondent may file with his or her brief a supplemental appendix in conformity with
sub. (2).
809.19(4)(a)(a) The appellant shall file a reply brief, or a statement that a reply brief will not be filed, within the later of:
809.19(4)(a)1.
1. Fifteen days after the date of service of the respondent's brief, and 3 additional days under
s. 801.15 (5) (a) if service is accomplished by mail; or
809.19(4)(a)2.
2. Fifteen days after the date on which the court accepts the respondent's brief for filing.
809.19(5)
(5) Consolidated and joint appeals. Each appellant in consolidated appeals or a joint appeal and each co-appellant may file a separate brief or a joint brief with another appellant or co-appellant. A joint brief must not exceed the page allowance for a single appellant.
809.19(6)
(6) Cross-appeal. Briefing in a cross-appeal shall be as follows:
809.19(6)(a)
(a) An appellant-cross-respondent shall file a brief titled "Appellant's Brief" within the time specified by, and in compliance with, the requirements of
subs. (1) and
(2).
809.19(6)(b)1.1. A respondent-cross-appellant shall file a brief titled "Combined Brief of Respondent and Cross-Appellant" within the later of any of the following:
809.19(6)(b)1.a.
a. Thirty days after the date of service of the appellant-cross-respondent's brief, and 3 additional days under
s. 801.15 (5) (a) if service is accomplished by mail.
809.19(6)(b)1.b.
b. Thirty days after the date on which the court accepts the appellant-cross-respondent's brief for filing.
809.19(6)(b)1.c.
c. Thirty days after the date on which the record is filed in the office of the clerk.
809.19(6)(b)2.
2. The front and back covers of the combined brief shall be red. The respondent portion of the combined brief shall comply with the requirements of this section for a respondent's brief, including the length limitation for such a brief set forth in
sub. (8) (c) 1. The cross-appellant portion of the combined brief shall comply with the requirements of
subs. (1) and
(2) for an appellant's main brief, including the length limitation for such a brief set forth in
sub. (8) (c) 1., except that the requirements of
sub. (1) (c) and
(d) may be omitted, the cross-appellant portion of the combined brief shall be preceded by a blank blue cover, and a signature shall be required only at the conclusion of the cross-appellant portion of the combined brief.
809.19(6)(c)1.1. An appellant-cross-respondent shall file a brief titled "Combined Brief of Appellant and Cross-Respondent" within the later of:
809.19(6)(c)1.a.
a. Thirty days after the date of service of the respondent-cross-appellant's brief, and 3 additional days under
s. 801.15 (5) (a) if service is accomplished by mail; or
809.19(6)(c)1.b.
b. Thirty days after the date on which the court accepts the respondent-cross-appellant's brief for filing.
809.19(6)(c)2.
2. The front and back covers of the combined brief shall be gray. The appellant portion of the combined brief shall comply with the requirements of
sub. (4) for a reply brief, including the length limitation for such a brief set forth in
sub. (8) (c) 1. [
sub. (8) (c) 2.] The cross-respondent portion of the combined brief shall comply with the requirements of
sub. (3) for a respondent's brief, including the length limitation for such a brief set forth in
sub. (8) (c) 1., except that the requirement of
sub. (1) (c) may be omitted, the cross-respondent portion of the combined brief shall be preceded by a blank red cover, and a signature shall be required only at the conclusion of the cross-respondent portion of the combined brief.
809.19 Note
NOTE: The bracketed language indicates the correct cross-reference. Corrective action is pending.
809.19(6)(d)
(d) A respondent-cross-appellant shall file either a reply brief titled "Reply Brief of Cross-Appellant" in the form required by
sub. (4) for reply briefs, or a statement that a reply brief will not be filed, within the later of:
809.19(6)(d)1.
1. Fifteen days after the date of service of the appellant-cross-respondent's brief, and 3 additional days under
s. 801.15 (5) (a) if service is accomplished by mail; or
809.19(6)(d)2.
2. Fifteen days after the date on which the court accepts the appellant-cross-respondent's brief for filing.
809.19(6)(e)
(e) Each part of a combined brief shall comply with the form and length certification requirements of
sub. (8) (d).
809.19(7)(a)(a) A person not a party may by motion request permission to file a brief. The motion shall identify the interest of the person and state why a brief filed by that person is desirable.
809.19(7)(b)
(b) If the brief will support or oppose a petition under
s. 809.62 or
809.70, the brief shall accompany the motion and shall be filed within the time permitted for the opposing party to file a response to the petition.
809.19(7)(c)
(c) Except as provided in
par. (b), the motion shall be filed not later than 14 days after the respondent's brief is filed, and the brief shall be filed within the time specified by the court.
809.19(8)
(8) Number, form and length of briefs and appendices. 809.19(8)(a)1.1. A person shall file either 22 copies of a brief or appendix in the supreme court or the number that the court directs and shall serve 3 copies on each party.
809.19(8)(a)2.
2. Except as provided in
subd. 3. and
s. 809.43, a person shall file either 10 copies of a brief or appendix in the court of appeals or the number that the court directs and shall serve 3 copies on each party.
809.19(8)(a)3.
3. Except as provided in
s. 809.43, a person who is found indigent under
s. 814.29 (1) and who is not represented by counsel shall file 5 copies of a brief or appendix in the court of appeals and shall serve one copy on each party. A prisoner who has been granted leave to proceed without prepayment of fees under
s. 814.29 (1m) and who is not represented by counsel shall file 5 copies of a brief or appendix in the court of appeals and shall serve one copy on each party.
809.19(8)(b)
(b)
Form. A brief and appendix must conform to the following specifications:
809.19(8)(b)1.
1. Produced by a duplicating or copying process that produces a clear, black image of the original on white paper. Briefs shall be produced by using either a monospaced font or a proportional serif font. Carbon copies may not be filed.
809.19(8)(b)3.b.b. If a monospaced font is used: 10 characters per inch; double-spaced; a 1.5 inch margin on the left side and a one-inch margin on all other sides.
809.19(8)(b)3.c.
c. If a proportional font is used: proportional serif font, minimum printing resolution of 200 dots per inch, 13 point body text, 11 point for quotes and footnotes, leading of minimum 2 points, maximum of 60 characters per full line of body text. Italics may not be used for normal body text but may be used for citations, headings, emphasis and foreign words.
809.19(8)(b)4.
4. Securely bound only on the left side with heavy strength staples or by means of velobinding or the "perfect" ("hot glue") binding method, with pagination at the center of the bottom margin. A brief may be bound by another method if authorized in writing by the clerk of the court.
809.19(8)(c)1.1. Those portions of a party's or a guardian ad litem's brief referred to in
sub. (1) (d),
(e) and
(f) shall not exceed 50 pages if a monospaced font is used or 11,000 words if a proportional serif font is used.
809.19(8)(c)2.
2. Appellant's reply brief or a brief filed under
sub. (7) shall not exceed 13 pages if a monospaced font is used or 3,000 words if a proportional serif font is used.
809.19(8)(d)
(d)
Form and length certification. Counsel shall append to the brief and appendix a signed certification that the brief and appendix meet the form and length requirements of
pars. (b) and
(c) in the following form:
I hereby certify that this brief conforms to the rules contained in
s. 809.19 (8) (b) and
(c) for a brief and appendix produced with a [monospaced] [proportional serif] font. The length of this brief is ....[pages] [words].
Signed:....
Signature
For purposes of the certification and length requirements of this subsection, counsel may use the word count produced by a commercial word processor available to the general public.
809.19(8m)
(8m) Guardian ad litem brief. If the guardian ad litem chooses to participate in an appeal and takes the position of an appellant, the guardian ad litem's brief shall be filed within 40 days after the filing in the court of the record on appeal. If the guardian ad litem chooses to participate in an appeal and takes the position of a respondent, the guardian ad litem's brief shall be filed within 30 days after service of the appellant's brief. If the guardian ad litem chooses not to participate in an appeal of an action or proceeding, the guardian ad litem shall file with the court a statement of reasons for not participating within 20 days after the filing of the appellant's brief.
809.19(9)
(9) Brief covers. Each brief or appendix shall have a front and back cover. The front cover shall contain the name of the court, the caption and number of the case, the court and judge appealed from, the title of the document, and the name and address of counsel filing the document. Except as provided in
s. 809.81 (8), the caption shall include the full name of each party in the circuit court and shall designate each party so as to identify each party's status in the circuit court and in the appellate court, if any. The covers of the appellant's brief shall be blue; the respondent's, red; a combined respondent-cross-appellant's, red with a blue divider page; a combined reply-cross-respondent's, gray with a red divider page; a guardian ad litem's, yellow; a person other than a party, green; the reply brief, gray; and the appendix, if separately printed, white. In the event the supreme court grants a petition for review of a decision of the court of appeals, the covers of the briefs of each party shall be the same color as the cover of that party's briefs filed in the court of appeals. In the supreme court, "petitioner" shall be added to the party designation of the petitioner, and the respondent's party designation shall remain the same as in the court of appeals.
809.19(10)
(10) Citation of supplemental authorities. If pertinent authorities decided after briefing come to the attention of a party or a nonparty under
sub. (7) or a guardian ad litem under
sub. (8m) after the party's or nonparty's or guardian ad litem's brief has been filed, or after oral argument but before decision, the party, nonparty, or guardian ad litem may promptly advise the clerk of the court, by letter, and serve a copy of that letter on all parties to the appeal. If the new authority is a decision of the Wisconsin court of appeals, the authority is considered decided for purposes of this subsection on the date of an order for publication issued under
s. 809.23 (2). The letter shall do the following:
809.19(10)(b)
(b) Identify the page of the brief or the point that was argued orally to which the citations pertain.
809.19(10)(c)
(c) For each authority that is cited, briefly discuss the proposition that the authority supports.
809.19(11)
(11) Response to supplemental authorities. A response to the letter under
sub. (10) may be filed within 11 days after service of that letter. The response shall briefly discuss the reason why each authority does not support the stated proposition, unless the proposition is not disputed.
Effective date note
History: Sup. Ct. Order, 83 Wis. 2d xiii (1978); Sup. Ct. Order, 92 Wis. 2d xiii (1979);
1979 c. 110; Sup. Ct. Order, 104 Wis. 2d xi (1980);
1981 c. 390 s.
252; Sup. Ct. Order, 111 Wis. 2d xiii (1983); Sup. Ct. Order, 112 Wis. 2d xv (1983); Sup. Ct. Order, 115 Wis. 2d xv (1983); Sup. Ct. Order, 123 Wis. 2d xx (1985); Sup. Ct. Order, 146 Wis. 2d xxxiii (1988); Sup. Ct. Order, 151 Wis. 2d xvii (1989); Sup. Ct. Order, 161 Wis. 2d xiii (1981); Sup. Ct. Order, 164 Wis. 2d xxix (1991); Sup. Ct. Order, 167 Wis. 2d xiii (1992); Sup. Ct. Order, 171 Wis. 2d xiii, xvii, xxxvii (1992); Sup. Ct. Order No.
93-20, 179 Wis. 2d xxv;
1993 a. 486;
1995 a. 224; Sup. Ct. Order No.
97-01, 208 Wis. 2d xxiii (1997);
1997 a. 35; Sup. Ct. Order No.
00-02, 2001 WI 39, 242 Wis. 2d xxvii; Sup. Ct. Order No.
02-01, 2002 WI 120, 255 Wis. 2d xiii; Sup. Ct. Order No.
04-11, 2005 WI 149, 283 Wis. 2d xix; Sup. Ct. Order No.
06-02, 2006 WI 118, filed 10-25-06, eff. 1-1-07.
809.19 Note
Judicial Council Committee's Note, 1978: Sub. (1). The format for briefs established in former Rule 251.34 is generally followed except that the requirement of a synopsis of the argument in the table of contents is eliminated. Former Rule 251.34 (1) required the synopsis and gave 200 Wis. 530 as an illustration. The synopsis was no longer included in most briefs and if it was, often was very lengthy and served no real purpose. It is replaced in the table of contents by a shorter, one sentence summary of each section of the argument portion of the brief. New statements pertaining to the need for oral argument and whether the opinion in the case will set precedent and thus should be published are added. The purpose of the latter is to assist the court in screening cases for oral argument or submission on briefs.
809.19 Annotation
Sub. (2). The lengthy appendix with the narrative of testimony required by former Rule 251.34 (5) is replaced with the system used in the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit. Under this system the original record serves as the primary evidence of what occurred in the trial court. The appendix becomes a very abbreviated document with only those items absolutely essential to an understanding of the case. It is designed to be nothing more than a useful tool to the members of the court. The failure to include some item in the appendix has no effect on the ability or willingness of the court to consider any matter in the record. This change, combined with the elimination of the requirement of printed briefs, should reduce the cost of an appeal.
809.19 Annotation
Sub. (5). Each appellant in a case has the right to file a separate brief and need not share a brief with co-appellants.
809.19 Annotation
Sub. (6). The parties to a cross-appeal can file the same briefs as the parties to the main appeal. Thus the cross-appellant can file a 40 page brief as cross-appellant in addition to his 40 page brief as respondent. The cross-appellant can also combine both briefs in a single brief but is limited to the page limits on each section of brief. A cross-appellant filing a 30 page brief as respondent is still limited to a 40 page brief as cross-appellant.
809.19 Annotation
Sub. (7). The practice under former Rule 251.40 is modified to require the request to file an amicus curiae brief be made by motion rather than by letter. Rule 29, FRAP. The motion should indicate the interest of the amicus and why a brief by the amicus is desirable.
809.19 Annotation
Subs. (8) and (9). In addition to briefs produced by the standard typographical process, briefs produced by a mimeograph or photocopy process from typewritten copy may also be filed. The principal objective is to reduce the cost of an appeal to the Court of Appeals. The specifications for the printed and typewritten pages are designed to result in briefs of approximately an equal number of words no matter which process is used. The paper size of 8-1/2 x 11 is specified for the sake of uniformity and ease of handling.
809.19 Annotation
Colors for covers are specified to permit easy identification of the briefs. [Re Order effective July 1, 1978]
809.19 Note
Judicial Council Committee's Note, 1979: Sub. (8) (a) previously required that 30 copies of a brief or appendix be filed in either the Court of Appeals or Supreme Court. The number of copies to be filed in the Court of Appeals or Supreme Court has been reduced to 20 copies to reflect the smaller number of judges deciding an appeal before the Court of Appeals and the difficulty the Supreme Court is facing in having enough storage space to retain the 30 copies of a brief previously required. The provision in Rule 809.43 requiring the filing of 10 copies of a brief and appendix in an appeal heard by one judge remains unchanged. [Re Order effective Jan. 1, 1980]
