In-house counsel always should consider the potential value of amicus briefs when the cases they manage go on appeal. Dentons' appellate litigation partners Larry Ebner and Robin Conrad explain in their article, Making Strategic Use of Amicus Briefs, that the filing of amicus curiae ("friend-of-the-court") briefs is now not only an accepted, but also an expected part of appellate practice in the US Supreme Court (including at the certiorari stage), in federal courts of appeals, and in many state appellate courts. The article, which appears in the October edition of For The Defense magazine, published by DRI-The Voice of the Defense Bar, provides practical advice concerning whether, when, how, and from whom in-house counsel should solicit amicus briefs in support of their cases on appeal. The value of amicus briefs filed by trade associations or individual companies in appeals that present important questions of law affecting an entire industry also is emphasized.
Writing an effective amicus brief is an art. The article explains, for example, that amicus briefs should be written in an elevated, somewhat restrained style, and that appellate courts universally frown on "me-too" amicus briefs that merely repeat the supported party's arguments.
Now in his fifth decade of legal practice at Dentons and its Washington, DC, predecessors, Larry Ebner has authored dozens of amicus curiae briefs on a wide variety of subjects that affect industries and their members. Before joining Dentons in 2013, Robin Conrad strategized and coordinated the preparation of thousands of Supreme Court and lower court amicus briefs as long-time director of the US Chamber of Commerce's Litigation Center.
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