### IN THE SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF MONTANA DA 22

- 0600

_________________ SALVATRICE MUSCLE,

Plaintiff and Appellant,

v. ANTONIO SANTIN, M.D.,

Defendant and Appellee. O R D E R

_________________ Thi s Court reviews briefs to ensure compliance with the Montana Rules of Appellate Procedure. After reviewing the Appellant ’ s opening brief filed electronically
on January 19, 2023 , this Court has determined that the brief does not comply with the below

-referenced Rule s and must be resubmitted. M. R. App. P. 2(4 ) requires the caption of an appeal to “list the parties in the same order as the caption used in the district court, with the addition of the designations

‘ appellant ’ and ‘ appellee ’ as appropriate. ” M. R. App. P. 11( 6 )(b )( iii) requires the correct caption to be used on the cover page of the brief. The Appellant ’ s opening brief has modified the capti on from that used in the district court

. M. R. App. P. 12( 1 )( d) requires a “ statement of the facts relevant to the issues presented for review, with references to the pages or the parts of the record at which material facts appear [

. ] ” The Appellant ’ s statement of facts contains numerous citations to the trial transcript without giving a page number as to where in the transcript tho se facts may be located. M. R. App

. P. 12( 1 )( i) requires the A ppellant ’ s opening brief to contain an

“appendix that includes the relevant judgment, order( s), findings of fact, conclusions of law, jury instruction(s), ruling(s), or decision(s) from which the appeal is taken together with any written me morandum or rationale of the court, and those pages of the transcript
containing any oral ruling in support. ” The Appellant ’ s opening brief, which is appealing from several orders of the district court and a jury verdict, contains no appendix. 01/20/2023

Case Number: DA 22-0600F inally, the Appellant ’ s opening brief is al so premature, because under M. R. App.

P. 13 (1), an appellant shall file the opening brief “within 30 days after the date on which the record is fil ed. ” Pursuant to M. R. App

. P. 8( 1 ) , “the original papers and exhibits filed in the district court, the transcript of proceedings, if any, and a certified copy of the docket entries prepared by the clerk of the district court shall constitute the record on appeal in all cases . ” Under M. R. App. P. 9, the record is deemed transmitted once the Distri ct Court record and any necessary transcripts are filed with the Clerk of this Court. Because no transcripts have yet been filed in this case , the time for bri efing has not yet begun

. Therefore, IT IS ORDERED that the referenced brief is rejected. IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that the Appellant shall electronically file with the Clerk of this Court a revised brief containing the revisions necessary to comply with the specifi ed R

ule s within thirty (30 ) days after the date on which the complete record i s fi led and that the Appellant shall serve copies of the revised brief on all parties of record ; IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that no changes, additions , or deletions other than those specified in this Order may be made to the brief as originally fi led; and IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that the times for any subsequent briefing contained in M. R. App. P. 13 shall run from the date of filing of the revised brief. The Clerk is directed to provide a true copy of this Order to the Appellant and to all parties of record.

Electronically signed by: Ingrid Gustafson Justice, Montana Supreme Court January 20 2023