809.19(8g) (8g) Certifications.

809.19(8g)(a) (a) Briefs; certification regarding form and length.

809.19(8g)(a)1. 1. Counsel shall submit with the brief a signed certification that the brief meets the form and length requirements of sub. (8) (b), (bm), and (c) in the following form:

I hereby certify that this brief conforms to the rules contained in s. 809.19 (8) (b), (bm), and (c) for a brief. The length of this brief is .... [pages] [words].

Signed: ....

Signature

809.19(8g)(a)2. 2. For purposes of the certification of length under this paragraph, counsel filing a brief may use the word count produced by a commercial word processor available to the general public. The word count shall include the words of any text included in the brief in the form of an image.

809.19(8g)(b) (b) Appendices; certification regarding contents and confidentiality.

809.19(8g)(b)1. 1. An appellant’s counsel shall submit with the appendix a signed certification that the appendix meets the content and confidentiality requirements of sub. (2) (a) and (am) in the following form:

CERTIFICATION BY ATTORNEY

I hereby certify that filed with this brief is an appendix that complies with s. 809.19 (2) (a) and that contains, at a minimum: (1) a table of contents; (2) the findings or opinion of the circuit court; (3) a copy of any unpublished opinion cited under s. 809.23 (3) (a) or (b); and (4) portions of the record essential to an understanding of the issues raised, including oral or written rulings or decisions showing the circuit court’s reasoning regarding those issues.

I further certify that if this appeal is taken from a circuit court order or judgment entered in a judicial review of an administrative decision, the appendix contains the findings of fact and conclusions of law, if any, and final decision of the administrative agency.

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 one or more initials or other appropriate pseudonym or designation 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(8g)(b)2. 2. Counsel filing a supplemental appendix shall submit it with a signed certification that the appendix complies with the confidentiality requirements under sub. (2) (am) in a form substantially similar to the confidentiality provision under subd. 1.

809.19(8g)(c) (c) Combined certifications. Certification of a brief under par. (a) and certification of an appendix or supplemental appendix under par. (b) may be combined in a single document for signature.

809.19(8g)(d) (d) Electronic signature. For electronic filing users, a certification may be electronically signed in accordance with s. 809.801 (12) (a).

809.19(9) (9) Brief covers. Each brief or appendix shall have a white front 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) and (9), 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. 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. (6m) 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)(a) (a) Set forth the citations for the authority.

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.

809.19 History 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 (1981); 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 (1991); 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); 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, 291 Wis. 2d xiii; Sup. Ct. Order No. 07-03, 2007 WI 129, 303 Wis. 2d xxvii; Sup. Ct. Order No. 08-15 and Sup. Ct. Order No. 08-18, 2009 WI 4, 311 Wis. 2d xxix; 2009 a. 180; Sup. Ct. Order No. 10-01 and Sup. Ct. Order No. 10-02, 2010 WI 42, 323 Wis. 2d xxiii; Sup. Ct. Order No. 13-10, 2014 WI 45, 354 Wis. 2d xliii; Sup. Ct. Order No. 14-01, 2015 WI 21, filed 3-2-15, eff. 7-1-15; Sup. Ct. Order No. 17-05, 2017 WI 95, filed 11-9-17, eff. 7-1-18; 2017 a. 364 s. 49; 2017 a. 365; Sup. Ct. Order No. 20-07, 2021 WI 37, 397 Wis. 2d xiii; 2021 a. 240 s. 30.

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 Note 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 Note 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 Note 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.