Once a litigant has filed a petition for writ of certiorari on the specified Supreme Court paper and the respondent has followed it with a brief in opposition, the petitioner again has the chance to file a reply brief. This is the third brief in the series and presents an opportunity to counter the arguments raised by the respondent in the brief in opposition.
A similar writ format and other filing rules apply for reply briefs, akin to the writ for certiorari. The word limit is fixed at 3000 and the color of the cover should be tan. Forty copies of the reply brief have to be filed, except when the petitioner is an inmate of an institution or is proceeding in forma pauperis (only 10 copies required).
To file or not to file: Filing a reply brief is optional. However, the petitioner should never forego this opportunity to address new points raised in the brief in opposition. This also provides the chance to rebut the counterarguments raised by the respondent while reaffirming why the Supreme Court paper petition should be granted certiorari.
By when: There is no specific timeline for filing a reply brief. However, the petitioner should keep in mind that the Clerk of the Supreme Court will distribute the petition and brief in opposition to the Court for its consideration no less than 14 days after the brief in opposition is filed. In case, the reply brief is filed within this 14-day period, it will accompany the petition and opposition briefs. In case the reply brief is filed later, the Clerk will still forward a copy of to the Justices even after the petition and opposition briefs have been distributed. Yet, distribution and consideration of the latter by the Court is never delayed pending the receipt of a reply brief.
Therefore, the cert. memo will be mostly based on the contentions raised in the brief in opposition (in the absence of a fitting reply brief). This is the primary reason why petitioners are always advised to file their reply briefs within 10 days of the brief in opposition being filed. This way the respondent's arguments will not go unchallenged even temporarily!
What: A reply brief should not rehash the original petition for writ of certiorari or turn out to be a concise version of the opening arguments. The attorney should concentrate only on addressing the arguments raised in the brief in opposition or respond to any new issues raised by the respondents. This is also an opportunity to expose any loopholes or faulty logic in the opposition brief. The reply brief can also be used to show how the opposition brief has failed to counter the critical issues made in the petition or even conceded any of the significant issues. However, any new issues should not be raised in the reply brief per se. The main objective is to reinforce the accuracy of the petitioner's position in such a way that certiorari will be granted.
The document should be concise and focused, as the word limit is drastically reduced to only 3000 words.
In sum, do not lose the chance to have the last word with a reply brief in the prescribed writ format. But do not squander it either by paraphrasing the opening petition or hitting the respondent below the belt in any manner whatsoever!
If you would like to add anything about the reply brief, please mention in the comments section below.
Source : articlesbase.com
0 comments:
Post a Comment