The Summary of the Argument in a brief is, in a
nutshell, a summary of the best reasons your client should win the case. Judges often read the Summary before they read
the brief, so the Summary sets up your argument by giving the judge the context
to view it favorably. For a judge who
doesn’t have time to read the whole brief, the Summary is even more important.
Placement. In an appellate brief, the Summary comes
after the Statement of the Case and before the Argument section. In a motion brief, the Summary, or
“Introduction,” comes before the Statement of the Case.
Content. According to Fed. R. App. P. 28(a)(8), the Summary
“must contain a succinct, clear, and accurate statement of the arguments made
in the body of the brief.” Although the
Summary provides a roadmap of your argument, it is different from the overview
paragraph because it is a stand-alone section of the brief. It covers the main arguments addressed in
your point headings, but should not merely repeat them. Try to strike a balance
between the detail in the argument section and the more condensed point
headings.
Length. The summary should not be overly long—one to
two pages at most. Typically, that means
one paragraph per issue (and perhaps an introductory paragraph if there is more
than one issue). Although you need not
give equal weight to each argument, the Summary should follow the same order as
your argument section.
Citations. The Summary should center on the arguments
themselves. Therefore, although you may
sometimes need to reference a key statute or controlling case to make your Summary
understandable, you will not usually include citations.
Robin Wellford Slocum, Legal Reasoning, Writing, and Persuasive
Argument 480-83 (2d ed. 2006); Laurel Currie Oates & Anne Enquist, The
Legal Writing Handbook 361-62 (5th ed. 2010).
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