How to write a legal brief.
Putting together the Appendix of your Brief can be confusing. This blog will offer an easy-to-follow outline of what to include and how to gather the information.
Some documents—like Petitions—have required Appendix elements. Appendix documents cannot simply be photocopied, but must be typeset to the same standards as a Supreme Court Brief.
Supreme Court Rule 14.1(i) describes the content and sequence of Petition Appendices. Basically, you will need:
- the final Order of the last court that evaluated the merits of the issue;
- the final Order of the other courts below, back to the trial court;
- the last court’s Denial of Rehearing or Denial of Review, if any;
- the last Judgment, if its date is different than the date of the last order;
- verbatim statutory or constitutional excerpts, if you opt not to include those in the Brief; and
- any other material you believe will help the reader understand your Petition.
If a Report and Recommendation was adopted by the Court, that Report and Recommendation is required to be included in the Appendix.
The Mandate has no effect in the Supreme Court and is not included.
You can cite to anything in the Record below without including the document in your Appendix.
Supreme Court Rules do not limit the size of an Appendix, so the content of the Appendix is the biggest variable for your costs and printing schedule. That is why we ask you to email your Appendix documents to us right away. We will then:
- Check to make sure you are not missing any required documents (Rule 14.1(i));
- Organize your Appendix documents according to the Rules;
- Review your Appendix for extra material and give you cost options;
- Prepare an estimate and down payment request; and
- Call you to discuss the composition and look of your Appendix.
With over 90 years of brief printing and filing experience, Cockle Legal Briefs can help you navigate both the written and unwritten rules of Supreme Court practice. Give us a call to schedule your next Supreme Court filing.