- Friend-of-the-court briefs should disclose more about the relationships amici have with parties, members of a federal appellate rules committee said Thursday during discussion of potential changes intended to shed more light on who's behind amicus arguments.
- A working draft presented to the Advisory Committee on Appellate Rules calls for an amicus to disclose whether a party or its lawyers have contributed 25% or more of the amicus entity's gross annual revenue in the year leading up to a brief being filed. It also calls for disclosure of whether a party or its lawyers have a majority ownership in or control of the entity submitting an amicus brief and whether a party or its lawyers contributed or even pledged to contribute funding for drafting, preparing or submitting the amicus brief. U.S. Circuit Judge Jay Bybee, who chairs the committee, said there is at least anecdotal evidence of some problems with the current rules, pointing to reports of undisclosed contributions both Google and Oracle made to some organizations that filed amicus briefs in a U.S. Supreme Court copyright case between the tech giants. That can give the perception of a "cat's paw arrangement" in which a party is pulling the strings for the purported amicus, Judge Bybee said.
On Oct. 26 at noon, FBA-San Diego Chapter will present the State of the District Luncheon, which will include a Ninth Circuit update from Judge John Owens.
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