Rule 22 Briefs.

(a) Brief of the Appellant. The brief of the appellant shall contain under appropriate headings and in the order here indicated:

(1) A table of contents, with page references, and a table of cases (alphabetically arranged), statutes, and other authorities cited, with references to the pages of the brief where they are cited.

(2) A statement of subject matter and appellate jurisdiction. The statement shall include:

(i) a statement of the bases for subject matter jurisdiction in the Superior Court, with citation to applicable statutory provisions, making reference to the relevant facts to establish such jurisdiction;

(ii) a statement of the bases for jurisdiction in the Supreme Court, with citation to applicable statutory provisions, making reference to the relevant facts to establish such jurisdiction. The statement shall include relevant filing dates establishing the timeliness of the appeal and:

(a) shall state that the appeal is from an identified final order or a final judgment that disposes of all claims with respect to all parties or, if not,

(b) shall include information establishing that the Supreme Court has jurisdiction on some other basis.

(3) A statement of the issues presented for review and standard of review. This statement shall include a designation by reference to specific pages of the appendix or other specific documentation in the proceedings at which each issue on appeal was raised, objected to, and ruled upon, and a statement of the standard or scope of review applicable for each issue on appeal (e.g., whether the trial court decision is reviewed on such rulings for abuse of discretion, whether its findings of fact are reviewed for clear error, etc.). The statement shall also provide, in a separately labeled subdivision,

(i) a statement of whether this case or proceeding has been before the Supreme Court previously, and whether the party is aware of any other case or proceeding that is in any way related, which has been completed, is pending, or is about to be presented before the Supreme Court or any other court, state or federal. If the party is aware of any previous or pending appeals before the Supreme Court arising out of the same case or proceeding, the statement should identify each such case; and

(ii) a copy of the order or orders being appealed and, if any, the relevant opinions of the Superior Court, which shall be included in the appendix.

(4) A statement of the case. The statement shall first indicate briefly the nature of the case, the course of proceedings, and its disposition in the court below. There shall follow a statement of the facts relevant to the issues presented for review, with appropriate references to the record (see paragraph (d) of this Rule 22).

(5) An argument. The argument may be preceded by a summary. The argument shall contain the contentions of the appellant with respect to each of the issues presented, and the reasons therefor, with citations to the authorities, statutes, and parts of the record relied on.

(6) A short conclusion stating the precise relief sought.

(b) Brief of the Appellee. The brief of the appellee shall conform to the requirements of paragraph

(a) (1)–(6) of this Rule, except that a statement of jurisdiction, of the issues, or of the case need not be made unless the appellee is dissatisfied with the statement of the appellant.

(c) Reply Brief. The appellant may file a brief in reply to the brief of the appellee, and if the appellee has cross-appealed, the appellee may file a brief in reply to the response of the appellant to the issues presented by the cross appeal. No further briefs may be filed except with leave of Court. All reply briefs shall contain a table of contents, with page references, and a table of cases (alphabetically arranged), statutes and other authorities cited, with references to the pages of the reply brief where they are cited.

(d) References in Briefs to the Record. All assertions of fact in briefs shall be supported by a specific reference to the record. All references to portions of the record contained in the appendix shall be supported by a citation to the pages of the appendix at which those parts appear, followed by a parenthetical description of the document to which they referred, unless otherwise apparent from context. Intelligible abbreviations may be used. If reference is made to evidence, the admissibility of which is in controversy, reference shall be made to the pages of the appendix or of the transcript at which the evidence was identified, offered, and received or rejected.

(e) Reproduction of Statutes, Rules, and Regulations. If determination of the issues presented requires the study of statutes, rules, regulations, etc., or relevant parts thereof, they shall be reproduced in the appendix, or they may be supplied to the Court in pamphlet form.

(f) Length of Briefs. Except by permission of the Court, principal briefs shall not exceed 7,800 words, and reply briefs shall not exceed 3,900 words, exclusive of pages containing the table of contents and the table of authorities. All briefs, other than those filed under Rule 15(h), must include a certificate by the attorney or unrepresented party that the document complies with these length limitations. The person preparing the certificate may rely of the word count of the word-proceeding system used to prepare the document. The certificate must state the number of words in the document.

(g) Briefs in Cases Involving Cross Appeals. If a cross appeal is filed, the party who first files a notice of appeal, or in the event that the notices are filed on the same day, the plaintiff in the proceeding below, shall be deemed the appellant for the purposes of these Rules, unless the parties otherwise agree or the Court otherwise orders. The brief of the appellee shall conform to the requirements of paragraphs

(a) (1)–(6) and (f) of this Rule 22 with respect to the appellee's cross appeal as well as response to the brief of the appellant, except that a statement of the case need not be made unless the appellee is dissatisfied with the statement of the appellant.

(h) Briefs in Cases Involving Multiple Appellants or Appellees. In cases involving more than one appellant or appellee, including cases consolidated for purposes of the appeal, any number of either may join in a single brief, and any appellant or appellee may adopt by reference any part of the brief of another. Parties may similarly join in reply briefs.

(i) Citations. In the argument section of the brief, citations should be made to the United States Supreme Court; the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit; the Supreme Court of the Virgin Islands; the Superior Court of the Virgin Islands; the District Court of the Virgin Islands; other United States courts of appeals; and/or any other court, in that order of precedence. For each legal proposition supported by citation in the argument, counsel shall cite and distinguish any opposing authority within the jurisdiction. Counsel shall make parallel citations to the V.I. Reports where Third Circuit Court of Appeals, District Court, Supreme Court, and Superior Court decisions are reported. Citations to federal opinions that have been reported shall be to the United States Reports, the Federal Reporter, the Federal Supplement, or the Federal Rules Decisions, and shall identify the judicial circuit or district and year of decision. Citations to the United States Supreme Court opinions that have not yet appeared in the official reports may be to the Supreme Court Reporter, the Lawyer's Edition, or United States Law Week in that order of preference. Citations to United States Law Week shall include the month, day, and year of the decision. Citations to federal decisions that have not been formally reported shall be to the volumes of Federal Appendix (Fed.Appx) if the case appears in that service. Otherwise, citations to decisions not formally reported shall identify the court, docket number, and date, or refer to the electronically transmitted decision. Citations to services and topical reports, whether permanent or loose-leaf, and to electronic citation systems, shall not be used if the text of the case cited has been reported in the United States Reports, the Federal Reporter, the Federal Supplement, the Federal Rules Decisions, Federal Appendix, or the Virgin Islands Reports. Citations to state court decisions should be made to the applicable the West Regional Reporter system whenever possible, with an identification of the state court and the year of decision, e.g., 123 P.3d 456 (Or. 2012). Decisions by intermediate appellate courts in a state shall indicate the level of court entering the decision, e.g. 123 So.2d 456 (Fla. Ct. App. 2011). Any decision cited by counsel that is not retrievable in hard copy form in the Supreme Court of the Virgin Islands library must be provided as a part of the appendix. When pertinent and significant authorities come to the attention of a party after the party's brief has been filed, or after oral argument but before decision, a party shall promptly advise the Clerk of the Supreme Court, by letter, with a copy to all counsel, setting forth the citations. There shall be a reference either to the page of the brief or to a point argued orally to which the citations pertain, but the letter shall state the reasons for the supplemental citations without argument. A response, if any, shall be made promptly and shall be similarly limited. Any failure to follow the format and citation requirements of this subsection (i) may result in sanctions without further notice.

(j) Appellee’s Brief in Consolidated Appeals. The brief of an appellee who has been permitted to file one brief in consolidated appeals shall contain an appropriate cross reference index which clearly identifies and relates appellee's answering contentions to the specific contentions of the various appellants. The index shall contain an appropriate reference by appellee to the questions raised and the page in the brief of each appellant.

(k) Footnotes. Excessive footnotes in briefs are discouraged. Footnotes shall be printed in no less than fourteen point type.

(l) Certificate. Each party shall include a certification in its initial brief filed with the Supreme Court that at least one of the attorneys whose names appear on the brief is a member of the bar of the Supreme Court. Attorneys regularly admitted to the Virgin Islands bar under Supreme Court Rules 201 through 204, or any predecessor rules, are members of the bar of the Supreme Court.

(m) Waiver of Issues. Issues that were (1) not raised or objected to before the Superior Court, (2) raised or objected to but not briefed, or (3) are only adverted to in a perfunctory manner or unsupported by argument and citation to legal authority, are deemed waived for purposes of appeal, except that the Supreme Court, at its option, may notice an error not presented that affects substantial rights.

(n) Constitutionality of Statute. It shall be the duty of a party who draws in question the constitutionality of any Virgin Islands statute in any proceeding in the Supreme Court to which the Government of the Virgin Islands, or any agency thereof, or any officer or employee thereof, as such officer or employee, is not a party, upon the filing of the record, or as soon thereafter as the question is raised in the Supreme Court, to give immediate notice in writing to the Attorney General of the Virgin Islands of the existence of said question.