Brief (law)

In law a brief is a formal written argument submitted to a court. It is in a format required by that particular court system. in civil law A brief generally contains the legal arguments in a lawsuit.^[1] In a criminal procedure briefs involve the state prosecuting one or more defendants for breaking one or more laws.^[2] In general, briefs contain references to the statutes, legal precedents and arguments applied to the facts for this particular case. When an attorney writes a brief, they are implicitly promising to give the court good reasons for ruling in favor of their client.^[3]

An appellate brief is a brief prepared for an appellate court.^[4] An amicus curiae, literally a "friend of the court", is a third party not involved in the case but who has a strong interest in the case.^[5] They may ask the court's permission to file an amicus brief in support of one of the parties.^[5]