MEMO
TO: Joint Procedure Committee
FROM: Mike Hagburg
DATE: Jan. 1, 2011
RE: Rule 29, N.D.R.App.P., Brief of an Amicus Curiae
Amendments to Fed.R.App.P. 29 have been adopted effective December 1, 2010. These amendments impose new requirements for identifying the author of an amicus brief and for disclosing party involvement with the drafting or financing of an amicus brief.
The rationale behind the amendments was that additional disclosure requirements were needed to deter counsel from using an amicus brief to circumvent page limits on the parties' brief. The changes were also intended to help judges assess whether an amicus itself considers the issue sufficiently important to justify the cost and effort of filing an amicus brief.
Proposed amendments to Rule 29 based on the federal amendments are attached. A copy of Fed.R.App.P. and explanatory material on the 2010 amendments is attached.