3001.115—Participant statement or brief.
(a) Participant statement.
Upon the filing of the petition for review of a decision to close or consolidate a post office, the Secretary shall furnish the petitioner with a copy of PRC Form 61, a form designed to permit the appellant to make a concise statement of his/her arguments in support of the petition and the instructions regarding its use. In addition to eliciting this information, the instructions for Form 61 shall provide: (1) Notification that, if the appellant prefers, he or she may file a brief as described in paragraph (b) of this section presenting the arguments, in lieu of completing PRC Form 61; (2) a concise explanation of the purpose of the form; and (3) notification that the completed form, or a brief as described in paragraph (b) of this section, in lieu thereof, must be filed with the Commission not more than 35 days following the date of filing of the petition (which date shall be set forth, as it appears in the Commission's records).
(b) Appellant's initial brief.
The initial brief of the appellant shall be filed with the Secretary of the Commission and served on all parties 35 days after the filing of the petition for review of a decision to close or consolidate a post office. The brief will be limited in length to 30 pages, typewritten and double spaced, and shall include the following in the order indicated:
(1)
A subject index with page references, and a list of all cases and authorities relied upon, arranged alphabetically, with references to the pages where the citation appears (which need not be included in the page count);
(3)
A clear, concise and definitive statement of the position of the author as to the merits of the determination under review;
(4)
A discussion of the evidence, reasons, and authorities relied upon with exact references to the record and the authorities; and
(5)
Proposed holding with appropriate references to the record or the prior discussion of the evidence and authorities relied upon, and to the appellate criteria of section 404(b)(5) of the Act.
Briefs before the Commission shall be completely self-contained and shall not incorporate by reference any portion of any other brief, pleading or document. Testimony and exhibits shall not be quoted or included in briefs except for short excerpts pertinent to the argument presented.
(c) Answering brief of the Postal Service.
The answering brief of the Postal Service shall be filed 20 days after the date designated for filing of the appellant's brief and shall follow the format detailed in paragraph (b) of this section.
(d) Reply by appellant.
The appellant may file a written response to the brief of the Postal Service 15 days after the date designated for filing of that brief, which shall be strictly limited in content to reply to arguments made by the Postal Service. If presented as a brief, such reply brief shall conform to the format detailed in paragraph (b) of this section.
(e) Intervenor statements or briefs.
An intervenor shall file its brief within the time allowed for initial and reply, or answering, briefs, as appropriate. The Secretary shall furnish to each intervenor a copy of PRC Form 61 as soon as intervenor status is granted. If the intervenor chooses to file a brief, the brief shall follow the format detailed in paragraph (b) of this section.