Definition

Noun: * A friend of the court: An individual or organization that is not a party to a lawsuit but is permitted by the court to advise it on a matter of law, typically in cases involving broad public interest. This advice is submitted in the form of a legal brief.

Usage

• The term is used in legal contexts to describe a third party who provides expert information or perspective to assist a court in making a decision.
• It is often used with verbs like , , , or .
• The plural form is .

Examples

• The Supreme Court received an amicus curiae brief from several civil rights organizations.
• The judge allowed the professor to appear as an amicus curiae to explain the technical aspects of the patent.
• Numerous amici curiae filed briefs arguing for the law's constitutionality.

Advanced Usage

• Amicus curiae brief: The formal written document submitted by an amicus curiae to the court, presenting legal arguments, facts, or policy considerations.
  • The environmental group's amicus curiae brief was cited in the court's final opinion.

Variants and Related Words

• Amici curiae (plural noun): The plural form of amicus curiae.
  • The case attracted many amici curiae from the business community.

Synonyms

• Friend of the court: A direct English translation of the Latin term.

Notes

• Amicus curiae is a Latin phrase adopted directly into English legal terminology. It is a formal term used almost exclusively in legal writing and proceedings.
• While an amicus curiae often aims to influence the court's decision, their stated role is to provide neutral or specialized assistance to the court itself.

Noun

1. an adviser to the court on some matter of law who is not a party to the case; usually someone who wants to influence the outcome of a lawsuit involving matters of wide public interest