D.C. Cir. R. 28

(a) Contents of Briefs: Additional Requirements. Briefs for an appellant/petitioner and an

appellee/respondent, and briefs for an intervenor and an amicus curiae, must contain the following in

addition to the items required by FRAP 28:

(1) Certificate. Immediately inside the cover and preceding the table of contents, a certificate

titled "Certificate as to Parties, Rulings, and Related Cases," which contains a separate paragraph or

paragraphs, with the appropriate heading, corresponding to, and in the same order as, each of the sub-paragraphs below.

(A) Parties and Amici. The appellant or petitioner must furnish a list of all parties,

intervenors, and amici who have appeared before the district court, and all persons who are parties,

intervenors, or amici in this court. An appellee or respondent, intervenor, or amicus may omit from

its certificate those persons who were listed by the appellant or petitioner, but must state: "[Except

for the following,] all parties, intervenors, and amici appearing [before the district court and] in this

court are listed in the Brief for ."

Any party or amicus curiae that is a corporation, association, joint venture, partnership,

syndicate, or other similar entity must make the disclosure required by Circuit Rule 26.1. In a

criminal case, the government must make the disclosure required by FRAP 26.1(b), and the

appropriate party in a bankruptcy case must make the disclosure required by FRAP 26.1(c).

(B) Rulings Under Review. Appropriate references must be made to each ruling at issue in

this court, including the date, the name of the district court judge (if any), the place in the appendix

where the ruling can be found, and any official citation in the case of a district court or Tax Court

opinion, the Federal Register citation and/or other citation in the case of an agency decision, or a

statement that no such citation exists. Such references need not be included if they are contained in a

brief previously filed by another person, but the certificate must state: "[Except for the following,]

references to the rulings at issue appear in the Brief for ."

(C) Related Cases. A statement indicating whether the case on review was previously before

this court or any other court and, if so, the name and number of such prior case. The statement must

also contain similar information for any other related cases currently pending in this court or in any

other court of which counsel is aware. For purposes of this rule, the phrase "any other court" means

any other United States court of appeals or any other court (whether federal or local) in the District of

Columbia. The phrase "any other related cases" means any case involving substantially the same

parties and the same or similar issues. If there are no related cases, the certificate must so state.

(2) Table of Authorities. In the left-hand margin of the table of authorities, an asterisk may be

placed next to those authorities on which the brief principally relies, together with a notation at the

bottom of the first page of the table stating: "Authorities upon which we chiefly rely are marked with

asterisks." Even though the marking of “principal authorities” is optional, the table of authorities

must identify each page of the brief on which the authority is cited; passim or similar terms may not

be used.

(3) Glossary. All briefs containing abbreviations, including acronyms, must provide a "Glossary"

defining each such abbreviation on a page immediately following the table of authorities.

Abbreviations that are part of common usage need not be defined.

(4) Statement of Jurisdiction. The brief of the appellant or petitioner must set forth the

jurisdictional statement required by FRAP 28(a)(4). Any party, intervenor, or amicus curiae may

include in its brief a counter statement regarding jurisdiction.

(5) Statutes and Regulations. Pertinent statutes and regulations must be set forth either in the

body of the brief following the statement of the issues presented for review or in an addendum

introduced by a table of contents and bound with the brief or separately; in the latter case a statement

must appear in the body of the brief referencing the addendum. Any addendum exceeding 40 pages

must be bound separately from the brief. If the statutes and regulations are included in an addendum

bound with the brief, the addendum must be separated from the body of the brief (and from any other

addendum) by a distinctly colored separation page. If the pertinent statutes and regulations are

contained in a brief previously submitted by another party, they need not be repeated but, if they are

not repeated, a statement must appear under this heading as follows: "[Except for the following,] all

applicable statutes, etc., are contained in the Brief for ."

(6) Summary of Argument. Except when a brief contains a "Standing" section as required by

Circuit Rule 28(a)(7), in each brief, including a reply brief, a summary of argument must immediately

precede the argument; the summary of argument must contain a succinct, clear statement of the

arguments made in the body of the brief and not merely repeat the argument headings.

(7) Standing. In cases involving direct review in this court of administrative actions, the brief of

the appellant or petitioner must set forth the basis for the claim of standing. This section, entitled

"Standing," must follow the summary of argument and immediately precede the argument. The brief

must include arguments and cite evidence establishing by a “substantial probability” the claim of

standing. See Sierra Club v. EPA, 292 F.3d 895, 898 (D.C. Cir. 2002). If the supporting evidence is

not contained in the administrative record, it must be included in an addendum to the brief. If it is

bound with the brief, the addendum must be separated from the body of the brief (and from any other

addendum) by a distinctly colored separation page. Any addendum exceeding 40 pages must be

bound separately from the brief.

(8) Reference to Oral Argument and Submission Without Oral Argument. If a case has been

scheduled for oral argument, has already been argued, or is being submitted without oral argument, a

brief must so state in capital letters at the top of the front cover and, where applicable, include the

date of the argument.

(b) References to Authorities and Other Material. When citing to the record, authorities, or any

other material, citations must refer to specific pages of the source; passim or similar terms may not be

used.

(c) Length of Briefs. The length of briefs is governed by FRAP 28.1, 32(a)(7), and Circuit Rule

32(e).

(d) Briefs for Intervenors. The rules stated below apply with respect to the brief for an intervenor in

this court. For purposes of this rule, an intervenor is an interested person who has sought and

obtained the court's leave to participate in an already instituted proceeding.

(1) Except by permission or direction of the court, the brief must conform to the brief lengths set

out in Circuit Rule 32(e)(2).

(2) The brief must avoid repetition of facts or legal arguments made in the principal

(appellant/petitioner or appellee/respondent) brief, and focus on points not made or adequately

elaborated upon in the principal brief, although relevant to the issues before this court.

(3) Except as otherwise directed by the court, the brief must be filed in accordance with the time

limitations described in FRAP 29.

(4) Intervenors on the same side must join in a single brief to the extent practicable. This

requirement does not apply to a governmental entity. (For this purpose, the term "governmental

entity" includes the United States or an officer or agency thereof, the District of Columbia, or a State,

Territory, or Commonwealth of the United States.) Any separate brief for an intervenor must contain

a certificate of counsel plainly stating why the separate brief is necessary. Generally unacceptable

grounds for the filing of separate briefs include representations that the issues presented require

greater length than these rules allow (appropriately addressed by a motion to exceed length limits),

that counsel cannot coordinate their efforts due to geographical dispersion, or that separate

presentations were allowed in earlier proceedings.

(5) A reply brief may be filed for an intervenor on the side of appellant or petitioner at the time

the appellant's or petitioner's reply brief is due.

(e) Request to Exceed the Limits on the Length of Briefs and for Extension of Time for Filing.

(1) The court disfavors motions to exceed limits on the length of briefs and motions to extend the

time for filing briefs that affect the oral argument schedule. Such motions will be granted only for

extraordinarily compelling reasons.

(2) A motion to exceed the limits on length of briefs or to extend the filing time for a brief must

be filed at least 7 days before the brief is due. Untimely motions will be denied absent exceptional

circumstances, except that, where good cause is shown, the clerk may grant unopposed late-filed

motions for extension of time that do not affect the oral argument schedule.

(3) Before filing a motion to exceed the limits on length of briefs, or to extend the time for filing,

the moving party must attempt to obtain the consent of the opposing side. If consent is not obtained,

the moving party must attempt to inquire whether an opposition or other form of response will be

filed. The opening paragraph of any such motion must recite the position taken by the opposing party

in response to these inquiries, or the efforts made to obtain a response.

The following requirements pertain to service (i) on an opposing party who has not consented to

electronic service or (ii) for motions to exceed the limits on length of briefs or to extend the time for

filing that are not filed electronically. If the opposing side has stated an intention to file an opposition

or other response, or has not been reached after reasonable effort, the moving party must serve the

motion by hand, or if such service is not feasible, by giving telephone notice of the filing and serving

the motion by the most expeditious form of service. If the moving party is unable to effect service by

hand or telephone notice at the time of filing, the opening paragraph of the motion must recite the

efforts made to do so.

(4) Submission of a motion to exceed the limits on length of briefs or extend the time for filing a

brief does not toll the time for compliance with filing requirements. Movants will be expected to

meet all filing requirements in the absence of an order granting a waiver.

(f) Citation of Supplemental Authorities. After briefing has been completed, a party may file an

original and 4 copies of a letter pursuant to FRAP 28(j).

See also Circuit Rule 28.1 (Cross-Appeals), Circuit Rule 29 (Brief of an Amicus Curiae), Circuit

Rule 32.1 (Citing Judicial Dispositions), and Circuit Rule 47.1 (Matters Under Seal).