The Declaration of Independence contains 1,337 words. Including
its 27 amendments, the U.S. Constitution contains 7,591 words. By
contrast, today's practitioners may include up to 14,000 words
in a principal brief in the federal courts of appeals. That is
about to change.
Amendments to the Federal Rules of Appellate Procedure are set
to take effect on December 1, 2016. The proposed amendments that
have received the most attention reduce the maximum length of
various filings. For example, in cases where no cross appeal has
been taken, amended Rule 37 will reduce the word limit for
principal briefs from 14,000 to 13,000 words. In the case of a
cross-appeal, the limit for an appellee's principal and
response brief under amended Rule 28.1 will be reduced from 16,500
words to 15,300 words. The new limits can be found in a new
appendix to the Rules. Additional word limit changes apply to Rules
5, 21, 27, 28.1, 29, 32, 35, and 40, which govern, among other
things, petitions
