§ RULE 107. BRIEFS

RULE 107. BRIEFS

(a) Number. The original and a copy of all briefs shall be filed with the Prothonotary in the county in which the case is pending, and the Prothonotary shall deliver the original of each brief to the appropriate Judge; if more than one Judge is sitting at the argument of a case, a sufficient number of copies shall be filed for delivery to each additional Judge. A copy of every letter from counsel to the Court containing argument shall be sent to the Prothonotary for filing in the cause.

(b) Time of Filing. Brief schedules shall be ordered by the Court, and extensions of time for filing briefs will not be authorized, whether or not consent of other parties is obtained, unless the Court enters an order upon a showing of good cause for such enlargement.

(1) a. The name of this Court.

b. The title of the case and its number in this Court.

c. The names of counsel for party submitting the brief with the office addresses of such counsel resident outside the State.

(2) All typewritten briefs shall be upon paper approximately 8 1/2 inches by 11 inches in size and shall be bound on the left margin.

(3) The Court may require briefs to be printed and may in its discretion allow the actual cost of printing to be taxed as costs in the case. All printed briefs shall be upon pages approximately 6 1/8 inches by 9 1/4 inches and shall be bound on the left margin.

(4) The following shall be the form of citations:

a. Reported Opinions. The style of citation shall be as set forth in THE BLUEBOOK: A UNIFORM SYSTEM OF CITATION, with no reference to State Reporter Systems or other parallel citations. For example:

Melson v. Allman, 244 A.2d 85 (Del. 1968).

Prince v. Bensinger, 244 A.2d 89 (Del. Ch. 1968).

State v. Pennsylvania R.R. Co., 244 A.2d 80 (Del. Super. Ct. 1968).

b. Unreported Opinions. The style of citation shall be any of the three alternatives set forth below:

LEXIS Citation Form: Fox v. Fox, 1998 Del. LEXIS 179 (Del. Supr.).

WESTLAW Citation Form: Fox v. Fox, 1998 WL 280361 (Del. Supr.).

Delaware Citation Form: Fox v. Fox, Del. Supr., No. 510, 1997, Berger, J. (May 14, 1998).

c. Other Authority. The style of citation to any other type of authority, including but not limited to statutes, books, and articles, shall be as set forth in THE BLUEBOOK: A UNIFORM SYSTEM OF CITATION.

(d) Contents. All briefs shall contain the following matter arranged in the following order:

(1) A table of contents or index.

(2) A table of citations arranged alphabetically and indicating the pages of the brief on which each cited authority appears.

(3) In the first brief of each party, a statement of the case, including a statement of the nature of the proceedings and a concise chronological statement, in narrative form, of all relevant facts with page references to the transcript of testimony, if any, and to any pleadings and exhibits.

(4) A statement of the questions involved.

(5) Argument, divided into sections under appropriate headings, one section to be devoted to each of the questions involved.

(e) Failure or Neglect to File Briefs or Discovery Material. If any brief, memorandum, deposition, affidavit, or any other paper which is or should be a part of a case pending in this Court, is not served and filed within the time and in the manner required by these Rules or in accordance with any order of the Court or stipulation of counsel, the Court may, in its discretion, dismiss the proceeding if the plaintiff is in default, consider the motion as abandoned, or summarily deny or grant the motion, such as the situation may present itself, or take such other action as it deems necessary to expedite the disposition of the case. Upon the showing of good cause in writing, the Court may permit late filing of any of the aforesaid papers and pursuant to a written rule or order. This Rule shall not be deemed to affect any other Rule or Rules of the Court specifically providing for the time in which to file motions to which there may be attached briefs, affidavits and/or memoranda. (Cf. Civil Rule 59)

If motions to compel compliance with existing orders or stipulations are granted or if upon application by the Case Scheduling Office an order compelling compliance issues, after an opportunity for hearing in either situation, the Court shall require the party, person or attorney advising the same whose conduct necessitated the motion, to pay to the other party the reasonable expenses in obtaining and/or attending the motion to compel including attorney's fees, unless the Court finds the delay was justified or other circumstances make the award of expenses unjust.

(f) If an unreported or memorandum opinion is cited, a copy thereof shall be attached to the brief, and the case number in which it was filed shall be stated. If the opinion does not contain a sufficient statement of the facts to demonstrate its pertinency to the pending argument, a statement of the facts shall also be attached to the brief. If the citation is first made in a reply brief, the opposing party may discuss the opinion at oral argument or, upon application made at oral argument, may be given the opportunity to do so in writing.

(g) Length of Briefs. Without leave of Court, an opening or answering brief shall not exceed a total of 35 pages and a reply brief shall not exceed 20 pages, exclusive of appendix. In the calculation of pages, the material required by paragraphs (d)(1) and (2) of this rule is excluded and the material required by paragraphs (d)(3) through (5) of this rule is included.

(h) Unless otherwise ordered by the Court, any party may serve and file identical copies of any brief and exhibits on CD-ROM. The conditions applicable to the use of such CD-ROM briefs are set forth in the following paragraphs:

(1) The cover page of the brief shall include the following legend in bold type immediately beneath the Civil Action number in the caption: “CD-ROM Version To Be Filed.”

(2) Multiple parties which are filing a brief jointly may file such a brief on CD-ROM. Joinders to a brief may also be filed on the same CD ROM.

(3) Four (4) copies of the CD-ROM shall be filed with the Court within fourteen (14) calendar days of the filing and service of the brief, two of which shall be sent directly to the Judge as courtesy copies.

(4) Any party filing a CD-ROM in accordance with this Order shall take all steps that are reasonable and necessary to make it free of any computer virus.

(5) The CD-ROM shall contain a label that includes the following information:

(a) the name of the case;

(b) the Civil Action number;

(d) the title of the brief; and

(e) the name of filing counsel and their law firm(s).

(6) The CD-ROM shall include an imaged version of the signed brief and images of all exhibits. Video versions of exhibits (such as video depositions), that are otherwise properly included as exhibits to a brief, may be included on the CD-ROM.

(7) The CD-ROM shall include imaged or text copies of all legal authorities cited, both reported and unreported.

(8) All images and all text copies of authorities shall be in .pdf [portable document format] format and references within the briefs shall be linked as follows:

(a) Each title or subtitle in the Table of Contents shall be linked to the appropriate page of the brief.

(b) Each citation in the Table of Authorities shall be linked so that:

(i) When the user clicks on the case name or citation in the Table of Authorities, the opinion or other authority appears; and

(ii) When the user clicks on the brief page referenced to the right of the citation in the Table of Authorities, the brief page appears.

(c) All references in the brief to exhibits in an appendix or otherwise shall be linked to the first-cited page of the exhibit.

(d) All references in the brief to cases, orders, or bench rulings shall be linked to the first page of such cases, orders, or bench rulings. Cites to specific pages within such cases, orders, or bench rulings in the brief will be linked to the first page cited.

(9) The CD-ROM shall also include a text version of the brief in the format in which it was created and in RTF [Rich Text Format].