Skip to Main Content

Amicus Briefs Resources

Treatises and Practice Guides

Practical Law Amicus Brief Practice Notes, Checklists & Standard Documents

Practical Law on Westlaw contains a number Practice Notes, Checklists and Standard Documents covering the filing of an amicus brief in a number of U.S. Courts of Appeals. Unfortunately there is not currently a checklist or standard document for the First Circuit. However, these resources contain general guidance and references to federal rules applicable in all the circuits, so still might be useful for an amicus filing in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit. Here are a few examples for the Second Circuit:

Practice Note: Second Circuit Civil Appeals: Amicus Curiae Briefs
Standard Document: Second Circuit Amicus Brief
Second Circuit Amicus Curiae Brief Checklist

Federal Court Rules

Important Practice Tip: Some of the Federal Rules of Appellate Procedure were recently amended.  Not all treatises or practice materials reflect these amendments that went into effect on December 1, 2016, so use the following sources to find the text of the current rules.

Like other court filings, the format, contents, and timing of the filing of amicus briefs are governed by court rules.  The following is a list of rules you should consider when filing an amicus brief in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit. Annotated versions of these court rules can be found on Lexis Advance and Westlaw.  Freely available, unannotated versions of these rules appear in the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit Rulebook [PDF].

Federal Rules of Appellate Procedure

FRAP 29: Brief of an Amicus Curiae
FRAP 28: Briefs
FRAP 32: Form of Briefs, Appendices and Other Papers

Local Rules

Local Rule 32.0: Computer Generated Disk Requirement for Documents Filed in Paper Form
Local Rule 32.2: Citation of State Decisions and Law Review Articles
Local Rule 32.4: Motions for Leave to File Oversized Briefs

Administrative Order Regarding Case Management/Electronic Case Files System [PDF]