What is an amicus curiae brief?
Occasionally, an appeal will raise legal issues that are of concern to organizations or individuals beyond the parties in the lawsuit. An environmental organization, for example, may be concerned about an appeal in a case where a government agency approved a commercial development in an environmentally sensitive area. An industry group may be concerned about an appeal in which an issue is the interpretation of a statute that affects the industry’s operations. A group or individual that is not a party to the lawsuit, but that has an interest in the issues, may ask the court for permission to file a brief as an amicus curiae, a friend of the court, supporting one side or the other. If the court allows the amicus curiae brief, the parties to the appeal are given an opportunity to file briefs in response.
