Georgia Appellate Practice Handbook - Alston & Bird LLP

GEORGIA APPELLATE PRACTICE HANDBOOK
§ 6.1.2.3 Appellee’s Brief
§ 6.1.2.3.1 Parts
The brief of appellee should be divided into two parts:
(1) Defi ciencies in Appellant’s Statement of Proceedings Below. Part One should point
out any material inaccuracy or incompleteness of the factual statement in appellant’s brief, add any
additional statement deemed necessary, and cite any additional parts of the record or transcript
deemed material. 88 Failure to do so constitutes consent to a decision based on the appellant’s
statement of facts. The court may accept uncontroverted portions of the appellant’s statement of
facts as true. 89
(2) Argument and Citation of Authorities. Part Two must contain the argument and
citation of authorities relevant to each enumeration of error. 90 In this part, appellee shall also include
the standard of review for a particular error if different from the one contended by appellant. 91
§ 6.1.2.3.2 Sequence of Argument
The sequence of argument or arguments in briefs should follow the order of the enumeration
of errors and be numbered accordingly. 92
§ 6.1.2.3.3 Defending Against Claims of Unsupported
Matters
In defending against the contention that certain fi ndings, rulings, or other matters are not
supported by the record, counsel may refer to particular pages of the record where they may be
found. 93
88 GA. CT. APP. R. 25(b)(1). This rule applies only to an inaccurate or incomplete statement as evidenced
by the transcript and record. The appellee’s brief cannot supply evidence not contained in the record
or transcript. See, e.g., Biven Software, Inc. v. Newman, 222 Ga. App. 112, 115, 473 S.E.2d 527, 530
(1996); Voxcom, Inc. v. Boda, 221 Ga. App. 619, 619, 472 S.E.2d 155, 155-56 (1996).
89 GA. CT. APP. R. 25(b)(1); see, e.g., LaBrec v. Davis, 243 Ga. App. 307, 534 S.E.2d 84 (2000).
90 GA. CT. APP. R. 25(b)(2).
91 Id.
92 GA. CT. APP. R. 25(c)(1).
93 GA. CT. APP. R. 25(c)(2)(ii).
- 106 -