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  4. Rule 34. Document Preparation: General Requirements
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Supreme Court Rules

Rule 34. Document Preparation: General Requirements

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    Every document shall comply with the following provisions:

    1. Each document shall bear on its cover, in the order indicated, from the top of the page:

      (a) the docket number of the case or, if there is none, a space for one;

      (b) the name of this Court;

      (c) the caption of the case as appropriate in this Court;

      (d) the nature of the proceeding and the name of the court from which the action is brought (e. g., “On Petition for Writ of Certiorari to the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit”; or, for a merits brief, “On Writ of Certiorari to the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit”);

      (e) the title of the document ( e. g. , “Petition for Writ of Certiorari,” “Brief for Respondent,” “Joint Appendix”);

      (f) the name of the attorney who is counsel of record for the party concerned (who must be a member of the Bar of this Court except as provided in Rule 9.1 ), and on whom service is to be made, with a notation directly thereunder identifying the attorney as counsel of record and setting out counsel’s contact information. Only one counsel of record may be noted on a single document, except that counsel of record for each party must be listed on the cover of a joint appendix. The names of other members of the Bar of this Court acting as counsel, and, if desired, their contact information, may be added, but counsel of record shall be clearly identified. Names of persons other than attorneys admitted to a state bar may not be listed, unless the party is appearing pro se , in which case the party’s contact information shall appear.

    2. Every document exceeding (other than a joint appendix), that exceeds 1,500 words shall contain a table of contents and a table of cited authorities ( i. e. , cases alphabetically arranged, constitutional provisions, statutes, treatises, and other materials) with references to the pages in the document where such authorities are cited.

    3. The body of every document shall bear at its close the name of counsel of record and such other counsel, identified on the cover of the document.

    4. Every appendix to a document must be preceded by a table of contents that provides a description of each document in the appendix.

    5. All references to a provision of federal statutory law should ordinarily be cited to the United States Code, if the provision has been codified therein. In the event the provision has not been classified to the United States Code, citation should be to the Statutes at Large. Additional or alternative citations should be provided only if there is a particular reason why those citations are relevant or necessary to the argument.

    6. A case in which privacy protection was governed by Federal Rule of Appellate Procedure 25(a)(5), Federal Rule of Civil Proce­dure 5.2, or Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 49.1 is gov­erned by the same Rule in this Court. In any other case, privacy protection is governed by Federal Rule of Civil Pro­cedure 5.2, except that Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 49.1 governs when an extraordinary writ is sought in a crimi­nal case. If the Court schedules briefing and oral argument in a case that was governed by Federal Rule of Civil Proce­dure 5.2(c) or Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 49.1(c) , the parties shall submit electronic versions of all prior and subsequent filings with this Court in the case, subject to the redaction Rules set forth above.

    Notes

    • Amended on June 13th, 2025, to take effect on June 28th, 2025.

    Previous ruleRule 32. Models, Diagrams, and Exhibits Next ruleRule 36. Custody of Prisoners in Habeas Corpus Proceedings
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