Brevity Not The Soul Of Writ, Argue Long-Winded Lawyers

When federal appellate judges rallied behind a proposal to slash the lengths of filings by 1,500 words, many lawyers spoke out against it. Currently, filings may be up to 14,000 words and, the judges argued, are often repetitive and filled with legal jargon. It also adds up, when the average judge reads filings for about 1,200 cases annually. Judge Mary Beck Briscoe of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10^th Circuit, called briefs “needlessly lengthy.” Laurence H. Silberman with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, said they are “too long to be persuasive.” But the American Academy of Appellate Lawyers made a winning case against the cut, saying legal issues and statutes are more complex than ever. Their argument was successful, and the maximum word count as of Dec. 1 will fall by only 500 words, to 13,500.