Mass Supreme Judicial Court on Amicus Briefs

[L.J.Steele]

Apropos of the talk I did on amici at Chesapeake Bay IAI, there's a recent article on the Court's view:

http://www.masslaw.com/subscriber/archi ... nd%20court

[Charles Parker]

As for content, Marshall says a brief that is "repetitive or sounds like a brief for one of the parties" is not what the court is looking for. On the other hand, a well-written brief that brings to the court relevant information that the parties may not have raised, such as legislative history or decisions by courts in other jurisdictions, is appreciated, she notes.

I like the sound of that. Well reasoned and balanced.

[sharon cook]

Why was the word "court" highlighted in yellow each and every time it appeared? It was kind of like trying to read the Bible when every other word is italicized...distracting. I like the idea of fair and balanced...but you don't get much of that in American courts.