Local Rule Local Civil Rule 7.1: Form and Length of Briefs, Motions, and Other Papers

Local Civil Rule 7.1. Form and Length of Briefs, Motions, and Other Papers

Except for letter-motions as permitted by this or any other Rule, or as otherwise directed by the court:

(a) Content of Motion Papers. All motions must include the following motion papers:

(1) A notice of motion, or an order to show cause signed by the court, which must specify the applicable rules or statutes pursuant to which the motion is brought, and must specify the relief sought by the motion;

(2) A memorandum of law, setting forth the cases and other authorities relied on in support of the motion, and divided, under appropriate headings, into as many parts as there are issues to be determined;

(3) Supporting affidavits and exhibits thereto containing any factual information and portions of the record necessary for the decision of the motion; and

(4) All oppositions and replies with respect to motions must comply with subsections (a)(2) and (3), and an opposing party who seeks relief that goes beyond the denial of the motion must also comply with subsection (a)(1).

(b) Formatting Requirements for All Papers. The typeface, margins, and spacing of all documents presented for filing must meet the following requirements:

(1) all text must be 12-point type or larger, except for text in footnotes which may be 10-point type;

(2) all documents must have at least one-inch margins on all sides;

(3) all text must be double-spaced, except for headings, text in footnotes, or block quotations, which may be single-spaced.

(c) Length of Memoranda of Law. If filed by an attorney or prepared with a computer, briefs in support of and in response to a motion (except for motions for reconsideration) may not exceed 8,750 words, and reply briefs may not exceed 3,500 words.

If filed by a party who is not represented by an attorney and handwritten or prepared with a typewriter, briefs in support of and in response to a motion may not exceed 25 pages, and reply briefs may not exceed 10 pages.

These limits do not include the caption, any index, table of contents, table of authorities, signature blocks, or any required certificates, but do include material contained in footnotes or endnotes.

If a brief is filed by an attorney or prepared with a computer, it must include a certificate by the attorney, or party who is not represented by an attorney, that the document complies with the word-count limitations. The person preparing the certificate may rely on the word count of the word-processing program used to prepare the document. The certificate must state the number of words in the document. To the extent the court permits a party to submit briefs longer than these limits, and expresses those limits in pages, each additional page must not contain more than 350 additional words if the brief is filed by an attorney or prepared with a computer.

(d) Briefs in Bankruptcy Appeals. Unless ordered otherwise by the district judge to whom the appeal is assigned, appellate briefs on bankruptcy appeals must comply with the briefing format and length specifications set forth in Federal Rules of Bankruptcy Procedure 8015 to 8017.

(e) Letter-motions. Applications for extensions or adjournments, applications for a premotion conference, and similar nondispositive matters may be brought by letter-motion. Other motions cannot be brought by letter-motion unless authorized by the judge's individual practices or order issued in a particular case.

For relevant historical context for this local rule, consult the Appendix of Committee Notes.