Balmar Legal Tools and Guides
Templates
Document Checklist (US Supreme Court Filings)
- Cover Letter.Many petitioners like to include a cover letter to the court with their filing. This should be an original on your letterhead with original signature.*
- Consent Letters (if filing an Amicus)
- Check for $300 Docket made out to the court (Cert Petition only)
- Check for $200 made out to the court (Petition for Rehearing only)
- Certificate of Service (all)
- Word Count Compliance Certificate (all)
*not required
Links to Helpful Sites
- http://www.cafc.uscourts.gov/
- http://www.supremecourt.gov/ctrules/ctrules.aspx
- http://www.supremecourt.gov/docket/docket.aspx
- http://www.supremecourt.gov/bar/baradmissions.aspx
Facts/Helpful Hints/Common Mistakes
Converting to PDF
Make sure when converting to PDF to use Adobe’s Press Quality conversion setting. This automatically embeds all fonts and keeps the document hi-res and at 100% of its size. Using other settings may reduce overall page size, thus reducing the font size and also allowing font substitution. This will cause your brief to be rejected by the court.
Margins
Set your margins, line spacing, and fonts prior to writing your brief. This will help with easier tracking and pagination of your Table of Contents and other tables, as well as let you see that your page breaks are formatted as desired. Tables are not paginated until after the formatting is in place, as a change in margins or fonts will affect what page the cited headers or text fall on.
When copying text from another document
Make sure to change the font when copying in text from another document (e.g. lower court orders/opinions, quotes, excerpts of reference).
Sample Briefs
Briefs filed with the court are public documents – you may request a sample brief from the court.
Margins for SCOTUS
When working with a page size of 8.5"x11", set your margins to 2.19" for the left and right margins and 1.94" for the top and bottom margins. This will give you the correct text block size (Rule 33.1) and keep the page size at 8.5"x11", making it easier for you to print and review a hard copy on your office printer. Note that the text block includes footnotes but not page numbering. When we print your brief, its final size will be the required page size of 6.125"x9.25".
Fonts for SCOTUS
You must use a Century family font (Century Schoolbook is one of the most common). You must also use 12pt type for the body text and 10pt type for the footnotes (Rule 33.1).
Line Spacing for SCOTUS
Briefs should be single-spaced with at least 2pt leading between lines (this is noting additional spacing required between lines, aside from a default single-space format) (Rule 33.1).
Word Count Compliance (for SCOTUS)
Each brief has its word count limitations – please review Rule 33.1(d). The word limits do not include the questions presented, the list of parties and the corporate disclosure statement, the table of contents, the table of cited authorities, the listing of counsel at the end of the document, or any appendix. Verbatim quotations required under Rule 14.1(f), if set out in the text of a brief rather than in the appendix, are also excluded. However, the word limits include all footnotes.
