CA-ND — Formatting & Page Limits

Civil L.R. 3-4 governs formatting of all papers; Civil L.R. 7-2(b) and 7-4(b) govern page limits for motion briefs.

General Formatting (Civil L.R. 3-4(c))

"Papers presented for manual filing must be on 8½ inch by 11 inch white paper with numbered lines, and must be flat, unfolded (unless necessary for the presentation of exhibits), without back or cover, and firmly bound."

Text requirements: "Text must appear on one side only and must be double-spaced with no more than 28 lines per page, except for the identification of counsel, title of the case, footnotes, and quotations. Unless a Judge's standing order or other instruction from the court requires otherwise, text, including footnotes and quotations, must be: (A) in a standard, proportionally spaced font (e.g., Times New Roman or Century Schoolbook); (B) in 12 point type or larger; and (C) spaced no more than 10 characters per horizontal inch."

Footer Requirement (Civil L.R. 3-4(c)(3))

"Except for exhibits, each paper filed with the Court must bear a footer on the lower margin of each page stating the title of the paper (e.g., 'Complaint,' 'Defendant's Motion for Summary Judgment,' etc.) or some clear and concise abbreviation. Once the Court assigns a case number to the action, that case number must be included in the footer."

Page Limits (Civil L.R. 7-2(b) and 7-4(b))

• Moving brief (combined motion + points and authorities): 25 pages (Civil L.R. 7-2(b))
• Opposition brief: 25 pages (Civil L.R. 7-4(b))
• Reply brief: 15 pages (Civil L.R. 7-4(b))
• Motion to change time: 5 pages (Civil L.R. 6-3(a))
• Opposition to motion to change time: 5 pages (Civil L.R. 6-3(b))
• Motion for administrative relief: 5 pages (Civil L.R. 7-11(a))
• Motion for relief from nondispositive Magistrate Judge order: 5 pages (Civil L.R. 72-2(b))
• Objection to Reply Evidence: 5 pages (Civil L.R. 7-3(d)(1))

To exceed page limits, file a Motion for Administrative Relief under Civil L.R. 7-11 before the due date. The commentary to Civil L.R. 7-4(b) cautions: "counsel should not consider this a minimum as well as a maximum limit."

Brief Content Requirements (Civil L.R. 7-4(a))

A brief or memorandum must contain: (1) the noticed hearing date and time on the first page; (2) if in excess of 10 pages, a table of contents and table of authorities; (3) a statement of the issues to be decided; (4) a succinct statement of relevant facts; and (5) argument citing pertinent authorities.