At Cockle Legal Briefs we work with a great variety of customers, including incarcerated prisoners appealing to the U.S. Supreme Court as pro se litigants. Prisoners who believe that some aspect of their conviction or confinement is unlawful are entitled to bring their cases to the courts—even as far as the highest Court. Some prisoners [...]
Since the founding of the Republic, the United States Supreme Court has sat atop the federal judiciary, representing one of the three co-equal branches of government. Yet the Court did not get its own, permanent home until 1935. In that year, the Court moved from the Old Senate Chamber in the Capitol Building, and took [...]
SCOTUSblog For Court Nerds For those of us who follow the U.S. Supreme Court, SCOTUSblog is a well-worn icon on the favorites menu. SCOTUSblog is the preeminent news service solely dedicated to coverage of the Supreme Court. Lyle Denniston regularly posts insightful analyses of the latest legal news. Readers can also review lists of petitions [...]
Remember those early days of your legal career? Perhaps as a student clerk, or a freshly minted JD, remember those first few steps out of the classroom, and into the real world? Remember the terror? For three years they poured legal knowledge into your head, and perhaps more significantly, they gave you the tools to [...]
You have filed your Supreme Court merits briefs, booked your D.C. flight and hotel, and Google-mapped drug stores near the Supreme Court Building [for that last minute bottle of Pepto, of course]. It’s time for oral argument. Does It Really Matter? Eugene Gressman, a leading Supreme Court practice authority, has this to say about oral [...]
The decisions of the U.S. Supreme Court not only shape the law of the nation, but can often adjust the weave of our social fabric. To help the justices meet this weighty challenge, the Rules lay out a merits-stage process that offers sources beyond the arguments in the parties’ briefs, to provide information to the [...]
Congratulations! Out of the thousands filed every term, your petition is one of the hundred or so granted by the Court. Or, as the case may be, tough luck: your opponent’s petition has been granted, and you must once again litigate your case. So now what!? Your case is at the Supreme Court merits-stage, where [...]
The U.S. Supreme Court Rules describe an utterly unique and highly specific set of practice standards. Every new filer—whether she is a seasoned litigator with years of experience in the lower courts, or a pro se petitioner—should review the Rules to make sure the document will be accepted by the Clerk. However, many of the [...]
U.S. Supreme Court filings, governed by the Supreme Court Rules, can present a daunting task, even for experienced appellate litigators. The form and format requirements date from an earlier time in American law, when lawyers presented their appellate court briefs as formal, elegantly prepared publications. While most courts now allow stapled, desktop printing, the U.S. [...]
While journalists get away with writing just the first rough draft of history, United States Supreme Court litigants prepare briefs hoping to shape the final word. Polishing that draft requires the help of an experienced Supreme Court brief printer, and the professional proofreaders who check every word and punctuation mark to make sure the finished [...]