If the petitioner files a brief on the merits, any other party to the appeal may file a brief in response, which must conform to 55.2, except that:
-
(a) the list of parties and counsel is not required unless necessary to supplement or correct the list contained in the petitioner's brief;
-
(b) a statement of the case and a statement of the facts need not be made unless the respondent is dissatisfied with that portion of the petitioner's brief; and
-
(c) a statement of the issues presented need not be made unless:
-
- (1) the respondent is dissatisfied with the statement made in the petitioner's brief;
-
- (2) the respondent is asserting independent grounds for affirmance of the court of appeals' judgment; or
-
- (3) the respondent is asserting grounds that establish the respondent's right to a judgment that is less favorable to the respondent than the judgment rendered by the court of appeals but more favorable to the respondent than the judgment that might be awarded to the petitioner (e.g., a remand for a new trial rather than a rendition of judgment in favor of the petitioner);
-
(d) a statement of jurisdiction should be omitted unless the petition fails to assert valid grounds for jurisdiction; and
-
(e) the respondent's argument must be confined to the issues or points presented in the petitioner's brief or asserted by the respondent in the respondent's statement of issues.