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) Type of print for briefs, motions and other papers. All briefs must be double spaced and typeset in Times New Roman 14-point font with two spaces between sentences. Case names shall be italicized or underlined. Footnotes shall be single-spaced and typeset in Times New Roman 14-point font with two spaces between sentences.

(c) 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.

(d) Form. The covers of all briefs shall contain the following information:

(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 81/2 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 61/8 inches by 91/4 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.). OR WESTLAW Citation Form: Fox v. Fox, 1998 WL 280361 (Del. Supr.). OR 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.

(e) 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.

(f) 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.

(g) If an unreported or memorandum opinion unavailable on either Westlaw or Lexis 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.

(h) Length of briefs.

(1) Type-volume limitation. Without leave of Court, an opening or answering brief shall not exceed 8,000 words and no reply brief shall exceed 5,500 words, exclusive of appendix. In the calculation of words, the material required by paragraphs (e)(1) and (2) of this rule is excluded and the material required by paragraphs (e)(3) through (5) of this rule is included.

(2) Certificate of compliance.

(A) Any brief subject to Rule 107(h)(1) must include a certificate of compliance by counsel or an unrepresented party that the brief complies with the typeface requirement of Rule 107(b) and the type-volume limitation of Rule 107(h)(1). The person preparing the certificate must state the number of words in the brief, and may rely on the word count of the word processing program used to prepare the brief.

(B) Form 48 is a suggested form of a certificate of compliance. Use of Form 48 is sufficient to meet the requirements of paragraph (h)(2)(A) of this rule.

(3) Page limitations for parties without access to word processing. Without leave of Court, an opening brief or answering brief shall not exceed 40 pages and a reply brief shall not exceed 25 pages, exclusive of appendix. In the calculation of pages, the material required by paragraphs (e)(1) and (2) of this rule is excluded and the material required by paragraphs (e)(3) through (5) of this rule is included.

(i) Briefing on dispositive motions. When briefing a dispositive motion, parties may utilize the briefing guidelines set forth in this Rule when permitted to do so under the terms of the Civil Case Management Plan in effect in the pertinent county, in compliance with any Standing Order for actions proceeding in the Complex Commercial Litigation Division, or when granted leave of Court to do so. Unless otherwise ordered, the responsive papers shall be in the form adopted by the moving party; i.e., if the moving party files a motion accompanied by a brief the responsive paper should be a brief.

(j) Appendix. A party may submit an appendix of documents or testimony from the factual record supporting the party's position. An appendix should not duplicate record materials already provided by an opposing party. History. Amended effective Jan. 1, 1955; April 4, 1963; Nov. 14, 1968; Oct. 1, 1979; Oct. 15, 1980; Jan. 13, 1984; Sept. 4, 1990; July 28, 2000, effective Aug. 1, 2000; Aug. 7, 2002; Feb. 5, 2008, effective Mar. 1, 2008; Sept. 4, 2014; Oct. 1, 2015; June, 28, 2017, effective July 15, 2017.