Wisconsin Lawyer
Vol. 80, No. 4, April 2007
The word brief is derived from the Latin adjective brevis, which means "short, low, little, shallow" and dates back to 1292. However, the Online Etymological Dictionary (www.etymonline.com/index.php) indicates that by 1631, the use of the noun derivative breve had evolved to mean "letter of authority," which in turn led to the modern, legal sense of "summary of the facts of a case."
The color of the cover identifies what type of brief it is. An appellant's brief cover is blue, a respondent's is red, and the appellant's reply brief is gray. An amicus curiae brief has a green cover, a guardian ad litem brief is yellow, and an appendix to any brief has a white cover.
The Wisconsin State Law Library's briefs collection currently includes 6,200 bound volumes, with briefs and appendices for all Wisconsin appellate cases for which an opinion has been ordered published or unpublished. Coverage dates back to the beginning of each court: approximately 1839 for the territorial and early state supreme court; 1853 for the reestablished separate supreme court; and 1978 for the court of appeals. Depending on the age of the case, the briefs are available in print, on microfiche, on CD-ROM, and/or on the Web.
For more information about available briefs, visit the State Law Library Web site .
(Source: Wisconsin State Law Library)
Wisconsin Lawyer
