(a) Form and Content.
A memorandum shall comply with Local Criminal Rule 47.3 and shall
contain:
(1) a concise summary of the nature of the case;
(2) a concise statement of the facts that pertain to the matter before the
court for ruling;
(3) the argument (brevity is expected) relating to the matter before the
court for ruling with appropriate citations in accordance with
subsections (b), (c) and (d) of this rule;
(4) copies of any decisions in cases cited as required by subsections (c)
and (d) of this rule
(b) Citation of Published Decisions.
Published decisions cited should include parallel state court citations, the
year of the decision, and the court deciding the case. The following are
illustrations:
(1) State Court Citation: Rawls v. Smith, 238 N.C. 162, 77 S.E.2d 701
(1953).
(2) District Court Citation: Smith v. Jones, 141 F. Supp. 248 (E.D.N.C.
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1956).
(3) Court of Appeals Citation: Smith v. Jones, 237 F.2d 597 (4th Cir.
1956).
(4) United States Supreme Court Citation: Smith v. Jones, 325 U.S. 196
(1956). United States Supreme Court cases should be cited in
accordance with current Bluebook form.
(c) Citation of Authorities Not Appearing in Certain Published Sources.
Any authority (e.g., court decision, administrative decision, regulation) that
is not available on LexisNexis or Westlaw may be cited if a copy of the
authority is filed as an exhibit to the motion or memorandum in which it is
cited.
(d) Citation of Unpublished Decisions.
A decision designated as “unpublished” by a United States District Court
may be considered by this court. A decision designated as “unpublished”
by a United States Court of Appeals will be given due consideration and
weight but will not bind this court. In accordance with subsection (c) of
this rule, if such an “unpublished” decision is not available on LexisNexis
or Westlaw, a copy of it shall be filed as an exhibit to the motion or
memorandum in which it is cited.
(e) Provision of Authorities.
If an authority is not reasonably available to an opposing party or nonparty,
the moving person citing that authority shall furnish the authority to the
opposing party or nonparty upon request.
(f) Length of Memoranda.
Unless the court orders otherwise, memoranda must conform to either the
page limits or word limits below.
(1) Headings, footnotes, citations, and quotations in a memorandum
count toward the page and word limits. The case caption, the
signature block, any required certificates, any table of contents, any
table authorities, and any attachments, exhibits, affidavits, and other
addenda to a memorandum do not count toward the page and word
limits.
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(2) Page Limits.
(A) A memorandum in support of or in opposition to a motion
shall not exceed 30 pages in length.
(B) A reply or surreply memorandum (where allowed) shall not
exceed 10 pages in length.
(3) Word Limits.
(A) A memorandum in support of or in opposition to a motion
shall not exceed 8400 words.
(B) A reply or surreply memorandum (where allowed) shall not
exceed 2800 words.
A memorandum under this subsection (f)(3) must contain a
certificate, signed by the attorney or unrepresented party, attesting
that the memorandum complies with the applicable word limit.
The signer of the certificate may rely on the word count generated
by word processing software, as long as the software counts the
elements required by subsection (f)(1). The certificate must state
the number of the words in the memorandum.
