Playing With Legal Brief Spacing Sparks $1K Fine

A law firm desperate to squeeze more words into its argument on behalf of Amazon Web Services Inc. got hit with a $1,048.09 fine by a Manhattan federal judge. U.S. District Judge Victor Marrrero sussed out that Susman Godfrey had used 24-point spacing, rather than double spacing, to exceed the court’s 25-page limit. “[F]louting of this court’s individual rules” was deliberate, Marrero said, to “gain some slight advantage in this litigation.” The sanction was the cost of filing a new document that complies with court rules, which Marrero said was “double-spaced and in 12-point font with 1-inch margins.” Amazon Web Services Inc. is defending against a trademark infringement case filed by CafeX Communications Inc.