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Y O U N G L A W Y E R S J O U R N A L
T
he Illinois Supreme Court
recently adopted several
amendments to its rules,
reflecting the ever-evolving nature of
the practice of law in the information
age. Most dramatically, the Court
approved changes to Supreme Court
Rule 341, governing the length of
appellate briefs. Briefs will no longer
be capped at 50 pages. Instead, liti-
gants will have the option of using a
15,000-word limit for appellant and
appellee briefs and a 7,000-word
limit for reply briefs. Similar changes
were adopted for cross-appellant and
cross-appellee briefs, now capped at
30 pages or 8,400 words, and cross-
appellants’ reply briefs, capped at 20
pages or 7,000 words. This amend-
ment was first proposed by Michael
W. Rathsack and the CBA’s Spe-
cial Appellate Practice Committee,
drawing support from the Appellate
Lawyers Association and, surprisingly,
opposition from the Illinois State Bar
Association.
A seemingly minor change at first
glance, this amendment represents an
important advance in the practice of
law. It will quite literally change the
way we read and write. For better or
worse, technology has changed the
way we take in information. Study
after study has shown that our brains
interact differently with words on
screen than with words on paper.
32
JANUARY 2016
THE AMENDED SUPREME COURT RULE 341
Why One Seemingly Minor ChangeWill
Transform theWayWeWrite
By Jonathan Amarilio