28a USC 5.2
NB: This unofficial compilation of the U.S. Code is current as of Jan. 2, 2006 (see http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/uscprint.html).
TITLE 28 - APPENDIX
RULES OF THE UNITED STATES COURT OF FEDERAL CLAIMS
II. COMMENCEMENT OF ACTION; SERVICE OF PROCESS, PLEADINGS, MOTIONS,
AND ORDERS
Rule 5.2. Content of Briefs or Memoranda; Length of Briefs or Memoranda
(a) Content of Briefs or Memoranda.
(1) Initial Brief or Memorandum. Except in briefs or memoranda of 10 pages or less or pretrial
filings under Appendix A, the first brief or memorandum due shall contain, under proper headings
and arranged in the following order:
(A) a table of contents, including the specific contents of any appendix or appendices to the
brief or memorandum, listing the various items in the appendix, including the number and
description of every item and exhibit that is being reproduced, together with the number of
the page at which the item appears;
(B) a table of constitutional provisions, treaties, statutes, regulations, and cases cited, giving
the volume and page in the official edition where they may be found, and arranging the cases
in alphabetical order. (All United States Claims Court and United States Court of Federal
Claims orders and opinions published in either the United States Claims Court Reporter or the
Federal Claims Reporter shall be cited to those reporters.);
(C) a succinct statement of the questions involved, setting forth each question separately;
(D) a concise statement of the case, containing all that is material to the consideration of the
questions presented, with appropriate reference to specific findings, the stipulation of facts, or
other pertinent portions of the record, and setting out verbatim in the brief or memorandum or
in an appendix thereto the pertinent portions of constitutional provisions, treaties, statutes, and
regulations, as well as the texts of all administrative decisions directly involved in the case,
unless previously reproduced in or as an exhibit to the complaint; the appendix or appendices
to the brief or memorandum shall be numbered consecutively within themselves so as to enable
the court more easily to find and read the material in the appendix or appendices;
(E) the argument, exhibiting clearly the points of fact and of law being presented and citing
the authorities relied upon;
(F) a conclusion, indicating the relief sought; and
(G) if an appendix is used and is not incorporated into the same volume as the brief, there
shall be, at the beginning of the appendix, a table of contents or index listing the various
items in the appendix, including the number and description of every exhibit which is being
reproduced, together with the number of the page of the appendix at which the item begins.
(2) Opposing Brief or Memorandum. An opposing or answering brief or memorandum shall
conform to the requirements set out in subdivision (a)(1), except that the items referred to in
subparagraphs (C) and (D) of that subdivision need not be included unless the party is dissatisfied
with the presentation by the other side.
(3) Reply Brief or Memorandum. A reply brief or memorandum shall conform to the requirements
of subdivision (a)(2).
(4) General. Briefs or memoranda must be compact, concise, logically arranged, and free from
burdensome, irrelevant, immaterial, and scandalous matter. Briefs or memoranda not complying
with this rule may be disregarded by the court.
(b) Length of Briefs or Memoranda.
(1) Except by leave of the court on motion, a party’s initial brief or memorandum shall not exceed
40 pages (50 pages for a cross-movant) by any process of duplicating or copying, exclusive of
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28a USC 5.2
NB: This unofficial compilation of the U.S. Code is current as of Jan. 2, 2006 (see http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/uscprint.html).
(A) pages containing tables of contents, citations to constitutional provisions, treaties,
statutes, regulations, and cases, and
(B) any appendix setting out verbatim the pertinent portions of constitutional provisions,
treaties, statutes, regulations, agency or board decisions, court decisions, excerpts from
transcripts of testimony, and documentary exhibits.
(2) Except by leave of the court on motion, reply briefs or‘ 1 memoranda shall not exceed 20 pages
by any process of duplication or copying or 30 pages where a response to a motion is included.
(3) A brief or memorandum previously filed may not be incorporated by reference; any such
incorporation will be disregarded. A party wishing to rely upon a previously filed brief or
memorandum may do so by reproducing in an appendix either (A) excerpts thereof now relied
upon, or (B) the entire brief or memorandum. In either event, the party shall identify the total
number of pages considered pertinent in a footnote, which is to appear on the first page of the brief
or memorandum. The pages so identified shall be included in the maximum allowable length set
forth in subdivisions (1) and (2).
Footnotes
1 So in original.
(As amended Aug. 2, 2005.)
Rules Committee Note
RCFC 5.2 has no FRCP counterpart. The rule formerly appeared in these rules as RCFC 83.1. The renumbering of
RCFC 83.1 was intended to reflect its more logical placement in the organizational structure of the court’s rules.
Several changes have been made to the rule; they include:
First, the deletion from subdivision (a) of language identifying the plaintiff’s brief or memorandum as “the first brief
or memorandum” normally to be filed.
Second, subparagraphs (A) and (G) of subdivision (a) were revised to indicate that any index to a separate appendix
should be included both at the beginning of the appendix and at the beginning of the accompanying brief or
memorandum.
Third, subdivision (b)(4), relating to “a motion for leave to exceed the page limitation,” was deemed unduly
burdensome and was therefore stricken.
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