Same-sex marriage. Affirmative action. Voting rights. It was another blockbuster term at the U.S. Supreme Court. But the 2012-13 term had another, less noticeable, historic feature: the most amicus curiae briefs ever filed in a single term. The 1,001 briefs submitted by “friends of the court” in 73 decided cases—averaging 14 amicus briefs per case—shattered the previous record set last year of 10 briefs per case. In this, our third year analyzing the high court’s amicus docket for The National Law Journal, we wondered whether this steady increase in volume has influenced the Court’s receptiveness to amicus briefs. And for amici curiae, we questioned whether it is getting harder to stand out in the crowd.
As it turns out, the avalanche of briefs was not enough for the Court to curb amicus participation. The Court in fact amended its rules this summer to include changes that arguably make it easier for amici to submit briefs. The new rules endorse a practice long employed by Supreme Court practitioners of granting “blanket consent” to the filing of amicus briefs, rather than requiring each amicus individually to seek the parties’ consent. The new rules also clarify that when multiple amici join a single brief, only one of them needs to obtain consent. Sup. Ct. R. 37.2, 37.3.
