N.D.R.App.P.
RULE 27. MOTIONS
(a) Content of Motions; Response; Reply. Unless another form is elsewhere prescribed by these rules, an application for an order or other relief must be made by filing a motion for the order or relief with proof of service on all other parties.
(a) In General.
(1) Application for Relief. An application for an order or other relief is made by motion unless these rules prescribe another form. A motion must be in writing unless the court permits otherwise. The motion must:
1. contain or be accompanied by any matter required by a specific provision of these rules governing that motion,
2. state with particularity the grounds on which it is based, and
3. set forth the order or relief sought.
(2) Contents of a Motion.
(A) Grounds and relief sought. A motion must state with particularity the grounds for the motion and the relief sought. If a motion is supported by briefs, affidavits, or other papers, they must be served and filed with the motion.
(B) Accompanying documents.
(i) Any affidavit or other paper necessary to support a motion must be served and filed with the motion.
(ii) An affidavit must contain only factual information, not legal argument.
(iii) A motion seeking substantive relief must include a copy of the trial court's opinion or agency's decision as a separate exhibit.
(iv) A brief containing the legal argument necessary to support the motion must be served and filed with the motion.
(v) A notice of motion must be served and filed with the motion.
(vi) Proof of service must be filed with the motion.
Any party may file a response in opposition to a motion other than one for a procedural order (see subdivision (b)) within 10 days after service of the motion, but motions authorized by Rules 8, 9, and 41 may be acted upon after reasonable notice. The court may shorten or extend the time for responding to any motion.
(3) Answer Brief.
(A) Time to file. An answer brief and any supporting papers must be served and filed within 10 days after service of a motion unless the court shortens or extends the time. A motion authorized by Rules 8, 9, or 41 may be granted before the 10-day period runs only if the court gives reasonable notice to the parties that it intends to act sooner.
(4) Reply Brief. The moving party may serve and file a reply brief within 5 days after service of the answer brief.
(b) Determination of Motions for Procedural Orders. Notwithstanding the provisions of subdivision (a), motions for procedural orders, including any motion under Rule 26(b), may be acted upon at any time, without awaiting a response thereto.
(b) Disposition of a Motion for a Procedural Order. The court may act on a motion for a procedural order -- including a motion under Rule 26(b) -- at any time without awaiting a response, and may, by rule or by order in a particular case, authorize its clerk to act on specified types of procedural motions. Any party adversely affected by action on the motion may request reconsideration, vacation, or modification of the action. A party adversely affected by the court's, or the clerk's, action may file a motion to reconsider, vacate, or modify that action. Timely opposition filed after the motion is granted in whole or in part does not constitute a request to reconsider, vacate, or modify the disposition; a motion requesting that relief must be filed.
(c) Power of a Single Justice to Entertain Motions a Motion. In addition to the authority expressly conferred by these rules or by law, a single justice of the supreme court may entertain and may grant or deny any request for relief which may properly be sought by motion under these rules, except that a single justice may not dismiss or otherwise determine an appeal or other proceeding, and except that the court may provide by order or rule that any motion or class of motions must be acted upon by the court. The action of a single justice may be reviewed by the court. A justice may act alone on any motion, but may not dismiss or otherwise determine an appeal or other proceeding. The court may provide by rule or by order in a particular case that only the court may act on any motion or class of motions. The court may review the action of a single justice.
(d) Number of Copies. Seven copies of all papers relating to motions must be filed with the original, but the court may require that additional copies be furnished.
(d) Form of Papers; Page Limits; and Number of Copies.
(1) Format.
(A) Reproduction. A motion and brief, answer brief, or reply brief may be reproduced by any process that yields a clear black image on light paper. The paper must be opaque and unglazed. Only one side of the paper may be used.
(B) Cover. A cover is not required but there must be a caption that includes the case number, the name of the court, the title of the case, and a brief descriptive title indicating the purpose of the motion and identifying the party or parties for whom it is filed.
(C) Binding. The document must be bound in any manner that is secure, does not obscure the text, and permits the document to lie reasonably flat when open.
(D) Paper Size, Line Spacing, and Margins. The document must be on 8½ by 11 inch paper. The text must be double spaced, but quotations more than two lines long may be indented and single-spaced. Heading and footnotes may be single-spaced. Margins must be at least one and one-half inch at the left and at least one inch on all other sides. Page numbers may be placed in the margins, but no text may appear there.
(2) Page Limits. A brief in support of a motion and an answer brief may not exceed 20 pages, exclusive of accompanying documents authorized by Rule 27 (a)(2)(B), unless the court permits or directs otherwise. A reply brief may not exceed 10 pages.
(3) Number of Copies. An original and 7 copies must be filed unless the court requires a different number.
(e) Oral Argument. A motion will be decided without oral argument unless the court orders otherwise. Oral argument will be granted only in an extraordinary circumstance.
(e) (f) Motion to Dismiss Based on Ground Appeal Not Authorized by Law. Unless otherwise ordered by the court, the filing of a motion to dismiss which is based on the ground that the appeal is not authorized by law tolls the time for filing briefs on the merits. If the motion is denied, the running of the time for filing briefs on the merits resumes upon service of the notice of entry of the order.
EXPLANATORY NOTE
Rule 27 was amended, effective March 1, 1986; __________________________.
This rule is taken from Rule 27, FRAppP Fed.R.App.P. 27. It contemplates that most procedural matters will be determined by a single justice of the Court. The form of all papers relating to motions should comply with the requirements of Rule 32 subdivision (d) of this rule.
Subdivision (e) (f) was adopted, effective March 1, 1986.
Rule 27 was revised, effective _____________________, in response to the December 1, 1998, amendments to Fed.R.App.P. 27. The language and organization of the rule were changed to make the rule more easily understood and to make style and terminology consistent throughout the rules.
Subdivision (a):
Paragraph (1) was amended, effective , to make it clear that a motion must be in writing unless the court permits otherwise.
Paragraph (2), which sets out the contents of a motion, was amended, effective , to require that a separate brief must accompany a motion, together with a notice of motion and proof of service of the motion. This differs from the federal rule, which prohibits the filing of a separate brief and requires legal arguments to be presented in the body of a motion. Paragraph (2) was also amended to state that a motion seeking substantive relief must be accompanied by a copy of the district court's or the agency's decision.
Paragraph (4), effective , contains a new provision allowing the moving party to serve and file a reply brief.
Subdivision (b). Subdivision (b) was amended, effective , to clarify that a party may file a motion to reconsider, vacate, or modify the action by either the court or the clerk. Also, a new sentence was added to provide that if a motion is granted in whole or in part before the filing of timely opposition to the motion, the filing of the opposition is not treated as a request to reconsider, vacate, or modify; rather, the party must file a new motion that addresses the order granting the motion.
Subdivision (d). Effective , the format requirements were moved from Rule 32 to paragraph (1) of this subdivision, and conform to the federal requirements.
Subdivision (e). This new subdivision, effective , makes it clear that there is no right to oral argument on a motion.
SOURCES: Supreme Court Conference Minutes of September 10, 1985. Joint Procedure Committee Minutes of _____________________; November 29, 1984, page 2; May 25-26, 1978, pages 12-13. Rule 27, FRAppP Fed.R.App.P. 27.
STATUTES AFFECTED:
SUPERSEDED: N.D.C.C. § 29-28-20, N.D.C.C.
CROSS REFERENCE: Rule 32, N.D.R.App.P. 32 (Form of Briefs, the Appendix Appendices, and Other Papers).