brief

adj., brief·er, brief·est.

1. Short in time, duration, length, or extent.
2. Succinct; concise: a brief account of the incident.
3. Curt; abrupt.

n.

1. A short, succinct statement.
2. A condensation or an abstract of a larger document or series of documents.
3. Law.
   1. A formal outline listing main contentions along with supporting evidence and documentation.
   2. A document containing all the facts and points of law pertinent to a specific case, filed by an attorney before arguing the case in court.
4. Roman Catholic Church. A papal letter that is not as formal as a bull.
5. A briefing.
6. briefs Short, tight-fitting underpants.

tr.v., briefed, brief·ing, briefs.

1. To summarize.
2. To give instructions or preparatory information to: briefed the astronauts before the mission.

idiom:

in brief

1. In short.

[Middle English bref, from Old French, from Latin brevis. N., Middle English bref, written communication, from Old French, from Medieval Latin breve, from Latin, neuter of brevis, short.]

briefer brief'er n.
briefly brief'ly adv.
briefness brief'ness n.

An early text editor for DOS programming from Borland. It provided automatic indentation and the ability to edit different parts of a source program at the same time.

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adjective

1. Not long in time or duration: short. See big/small/amount, fast/slow/velocity.
2. Accomplished in very little time: expeditious, fast, flying, hasty, hurried, quick, rapid, short, speedy, swift. See fast/slow/velocity.
3. Marked by or consisting of few words that are carefully chosen: compendious, concise, laconic, lean, short, succinct, summary, terse. See big/small/amount, style/good style/bad style, words.
4. Rudely unceremonious: abrupt, blunt, brusque, crusty, curt, gruff, short, short-spoken. See attitude/good attitude/bad attitude/neutral attitude.

noun

A short summary or version prepared by cutting down a larger work: abridgment, abstract, condensation, epitome, synopsis. See words.

adj

Definition: short in time
Antonyms: enduring, lasting, lengthy, long, long-lived

adj

Definition: short, compressed
Antonyms: lengthy, long

v

Definition: inform of facts
Antonyms: hide, secret

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A brief is a written statement setting forth the factual background and legal contentions of a party in appellate litigation.

It is chiefly through written briefs that counsel persuade the Supreme Court. Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes, for example, was influenced rarely by oral argument—usually, instead, by the record and the briefs. That is not surprising, since oral argument is fleeting, whereas briefs are permanent. A brief may be referred to in the seclusion of chambers, before and after argument. Whether in forming a justice's initial impression of the case, or in answering questions about a party's position during the writing of an opinion, the briefs alone speak for the parties.

Not always have advocates briefed the Court. It was not until 1821 that the Supreme Court rules first required all parties to submit written briefs:

After the present term, no cause standing for argument will be heard by the Court, until the parties shall have furnished the Court with a printed brief or abstract of the cause containing the substance of all the material pleadings, facts, and documents, on which the parties rely, and the points of law and fact intended to be presented at the argument. (19 U.S. [6 Wheat.], v, rule XXX, Feb. term 1821)

Half a century later, the rule on briefing was amended and expanded (14 Wall. xi), and it has undergone several changes in this century, but the crucial parts remain the same: (1) a succinct statement of the case and of the questions involved; and (2) the argument, specifically citing the authorities relied on (see Rules of the Court).

Today's Supreme Court rules emphasize that a brief should be what its very name suggests: “A brief must be compact, … concise, and free from burdensome, irrelevant, immaterial, and scandalous matter” (rule 24.6). It was not just an abstract fear of lawyerly verbosity but experience that demanded such a rule. Early in the twentieth century, when there were no page limits on briefs, Justice John H. Clarke complained of briefs with more than a thousand pages. Under the current rule 24.6, such a brief would be “disregarded and stricken by the Court” (e.g., Huffman v. Pursue, 1974).

Experienced advocates today put what they need into fewer than fifty pages. In the mid‐1970s, Chief Justice Warren Burger suggested a fifty‐page limit, and in 1980 the revised rules established that limit.

Most of the briefs submitted to the Court are not written by advocates experienced in Supreme Court practice, and the justices must contend with the “diffuseness” that Chief Justice Charles Evans Hughes lamented. In many dozens of cases every year, lawyers reveal in their briefs little awareness of what the Court finds persuasive. In short, the average written argument is inadequate.

Too many advocates approach briefing with the view of setting down the facts and the law on the page. They fail in imagination and tight analytical rigor. As a result, briefs are too often uninteresting as well as unpersuasive. And an inadequate brief hurts a party's chances of prevailing. In a 1942 article in the ABA Journal on appellate briefing, Justice Wiley B. Rutledge advised: “[M]ake your briefs clear, concise, honest, balanced, buttressed, convincing and interesting. The last is not the least. A dull brief may be good law. An interesting one will make the judge aware of this” (p. 255).

That an unfocused brief may lose a case, even with good law behind it, may shock some. Given the great burdens on the Court's time, however, an effective brief concisely brings home the nub of why the case ought to occupy the justices' attention.

Although the rules about briefing have become more and more specific with time, the qualities that go into a good brief have remained the same. In the early nineteenth century, Justice Joseph Story described the “eloquence of the bar”—written as well as oral—as “plain, direct, and authoritative. … It forbids declamation, and efflorescence of style” (Selections from the Works of Joseph Story, 1839, pp. 186–187, 188).

See also Opinions, Assignment and Writing of; Oral Argument.

Bibliography

• Bryan A. Garner, The Winning Brief (1999).
• Robert L. Stern and Eugene Gressman, Supreme Court Practice, 6th ed. (1986).
• Frederick Bernays Wiener, Briefing and Arguing Federal Appeals, rev. ed. (1967), reissued (2001)

— Bryan A. Garner

A written document known as a brief is prepared by the lawyers on each side of a case and submitted to a court. A brief presents the facts of a case and the counsel's legal argument. The term was first used in 1631.

In cases before the U.S. Supreme Court, the attorneys rely upon their written briefs to persuade the Court. Supreme Court rules require that a “brief must be compact,… concise, and free from burdensome, irrelevant, immaterial, and scandalous matter.” Since 1980 there has been a 50-page limit on all briefs submitted to the Supreme Court.

See also Brandeis brief

This entry contains information applicable to United States law only.

A summary of the important points of a longer document. An abstract of a published judicial opinion prepared by a law student as part of an assignment in the case method study of law. A written document drawn up by an attorney for a party in a lawsuit or by a party himself or herself appearing pro se that concisely states the (1) issues of a lawsuit; (2) facts that bring the parties to court; (3) relevant laws that can affect the subject of the dispute; and (4) arguments that explain how the law applies to the particular facts so that the case will be decided in the party's favor.

A brief may also contain a synopsis of the evidence and name the witnesses to be presented during the trial. Copies of briefs must be submitted to the court where the case will be heard and to the opposing party.

An appellate brief is a writing that must be filed with an appellate court so that it may evaluate whether the decision of the lower court should be reversed because of some error or impropriety that occurred during the trial. A statement of the issues presented for review, a summary of how pertinent laws affect the facts, and a statement of the relief being requested are essential elements of an appellate brief. The appellee's brief will argue that the lower court acted properly in its judgment and request its affirmance, while the appellant's brief will attempt to convince the court to reverse or vacate the lower court's judgment because it acted improperly.

IN BRIEF: Lasting a short time. A formal written paper or report.

Carl's report took only five minutes to read, and it was far too brief.

Dansk (Danish)
adj. - kort, kortfattet, kortvarig
n. - resumé, dokumentation
v. tr. - briefe, sætte ind i sagen, orientere

Nederlands (Dutch)
kort, beknopt, resumé, (juridische) samenvatting, (mv) onderbroek, breve, instructies voor (militaire) actie, instrueren

Français (French)
adj. - de courte durée, passager, bref, concis, laconique, brusque
n. - (Jur) dossier, cause, afaire, (Mil) briefing, slip (npl)
v. tr. - (Jur) confier une cause à, (Mil) donner des instructions à, mettre au courant de qch, (Comm) donner des instructions à

Deutsch (German)
adj. - kurz, knapp
n. - Zusammenfassung, (jur.) Schriftsatz, (jur.) Mandat, (jur.) Darlegung der Beweisgründe, Instruktionen
v. - Anweisungen geben, einweisen, mit der Vertretung betrauen

Ελληνική (Greek)
n. - (νομ.) δικογραφία, φάκελος υπόθεσης, (στρατ.) οδηγίες
adj. - σύντομος, βραχύς, περιληπτικός, απότομος, (για ρούχο) αποκαλυπτικός
v. - συνοψίζω, ενημερώνω, δίδω οδηγίες, διορίζω (δικηγόρο)

Italiano (Italian)
sunto, breve, succinto

Português (Portuguese)
n. - depoimento (m) (Jur.), síntese (f)
adj. - breve, conciso
v. - informar, instruir resumidamente

Русский (Russian)
инструкция, суть дела, кратковременный, краткий

Español (Spanish)
adj. - breve, conciso, corto, resumido, sucinto
n. - resumen, informe, sumario, instrucciones
v. tr. - abreviar, compendiar, resumir

Svenska (Swedish)
n. - sammandrag, resumé, påvebrev, advokat
adj. - kort kortfattad
v. - sammanfatta, ge en orientering

中文（简体）(Chinese (Simplified))
简短的, 短暂的, 摘要, 公事包, 简报, 作简报, 节录

中文（繁體）(Chinese (Traditional))
adj. - 簡短的, 短暫的
n. - 摘要, 公事包, 簡報
v. tr. - 作簡報, 節錄, 摘要

한국어 (Korean)
adj. - 잠시의, 간결한, 퉁명스러운
n. - 개요, 소송 사건, 교서
v. tr. - ~을 요약하다, ~에게 변호를 의뢰하다, ~에게 지시를 내리다

日本語 (Japanese)
adj. - 短時間の, 短命の, はかない, 簡潔な, 短い
n. - 大意, 要約, 訴訟事件摘要書, 申し立て書, ブリーフ
v. - 必要な指示を与える, 要約する

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(الاسم) ملخص الدعوى, تلقين, لباس, داخلي قصير (صفه) موجز, مختصر, قصير (فعل) أعطى أوامر و تعليمات, أطلع على‏

עברית (Hebrew)
adj. - ‮קצר, תמציתי, מהיר‬
n. - ‮תקציר, תדריך, תיק, תדרוך, הוראות, תחום פעולה, מסר, מכתב מהאפיפיור לאדם או לקהילה‬
v. tr. - ‮תידרך, דיווח‬

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Boxer Brief	Andiamo Brief
Boy Brief	brief case