CBA Record

Y O U N G L A W Y E R S J O U R N A L

THE AMENDED SUPREME COURT RULE 341 Why One Seemingly Minor ChangeWill Transform theWayWeWrite By Jonathan Amarilio

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