Rule 67-7A. TheAmicusCuriaeElectronicBrief

(a) A brief of an amicus curiae in cases before the court on the merits may be filed only with the permission of the court unless subsection (f) of this section applies. An application for permission to appear as amicus curiae and to file a brief shall be filed within twenty days after the filing of the brief of the party, if any, whom the applicant intends to support. If there is no such party, then the application shall be filed no later than twenty days after the filing of the last appellee's brief, or if no appellee files a brief, no later than twenty days after the due date for the filing of the last appellee's brief.

(b) The application shall state concisely the nature of the applicant's interest and the reasons why a brief of an amicus curiae should be allowed. A party to the appellate matter in which the application is filed may, within ten days after the filing of the application, file an objection. Applications and objections, including footnotes, shall be typed in a 12 point serif font. Section captions shall be typed in a 14 point serif font. A list of serif fonts can be found in the guidelines published on the Judicial Branch website. Margins shall be 1 and 1/2 inches on all sides. All text must be left aligned. Line spacing can be between 1.3x and 1.5x and must be uniform throughout, including the body of the document, footnotes, and block quotes. Bold face or italic emphasis tools shall be used, not underlining. Applications and objections shall not exceed 3500 words. The word count is exclusive of the case caption, signature block of counsel of record, certifications, and appendix, if any. An amicus curiae brief shall not exceed 4000 words and shall conform with the requirements set forth in Chapter 67. The applicant may request to file a brief in excess of 4000 words by including a request in the application that sets forth reasons to justify the additional words.

(c) All briefs filed under this section shall comply with the applicable provisions of this chapter, and shall set forth the interest of the amicus curiae.

(d) An amicus curiae may argue orally only when a specific request for such permission is granted by the court in which the appeal is pending.

(e) With the exception of briefs filed by the attorney general as provided by this rule, all briefs shall indicate whether counsel for a party wrote the brief in whole or in part and whether such counsel or a party contributed to the cost of the preparation or submission of the brief and shall identify those persons, other than the amicus curiae, its members or its counsel, who made such monetary contribution. The disclosure shall be made in the first footnote on the first page of text.

(f) Except for habeas corpus matters based on criminal convictions, if an appeal in a noncriminal matter involves an attack on the constitutionality of a state statute, the attorney general may appear and file a brief amicus curiae as of right. The attorney general's brief shall be filed within twenty days of the filing of the brief of the party that the attorney general supports. If there is no party that the attorney general supports or no appellee files a brief, the attorney general's brief shall be filed no later than twenty days after the due date for the filing of the last appellee's brief.

Committee Notes

amended July 19, 2022, to take effect Jan. 1, 2023; amended the brief of the party that the attorney general supports is filed, and the attorney general's brief will be due twenty days after the filing of the brief of the party that the attorney general supports.'' COMMENTARY—2026: The purpose of these amend- ments is to clarify the deadlines for filing an amicus curiae electronic brief, and to provide that parties are required to file a certificate of interested entities or individuals only when the reviewing court orders the parties to file the certificate when necessary. TECHNICAL CHANGE: The style of the reference in the first sentence of subsection (a) was updated.