Friday, January 13, 2017

Posner criticizes verbosity in briefs

Posner criticizes 'verbosity' in appeals briefs in decision upholding closed voir dire

“We do wish to comment briefly on the length of the parties’ briefs,” Posner wrote. “They total 250 pages, of which 31 pages consist of the district judge’s opinion (one opinion for the two cases). The other 219 pages are the parties’ arguments. There is no justification for such verbosity. These two consolidated cases are simple and straightforward. Our opinion is only seven pages long; and while such compression is not to be expected of the parties, they should have needed, and used, no more than 100 pages at the most to present their claims fully.”
Link to the case here.