July 16, 2025 – A well-written trial brief provides a succinct overview of a motion’s merits and can summarize an entire case.
Circuit court trial briefs may be required during a bench trial to establish the facts of a case and outline the law. Wisconsin Trial Practice (from State Bar of Wisconsin PINNACLE®) gives a quick overview of trial briefing practice tips and cautions that “simplicity is the key” to a successful trial brief. Another offering from PINNACLE is “Effective Legal Writing,” an OnDemand CLE program with speakers recognized for their brief writing excellence.
This article instructs on how to find sample trial briefs and where to go to hone your persuasive writing skills.
Court Rules
The circuit court’s procedural rules are the first place to look for formatting, length, and timing requirements. Local court rules (you can usually find them on WisBar.org) like Rock County’s or Dane County’s rules, may contain information on length and other formatting requirements, as well as include briefing schedule information.
Courts set a briefing schedule or additional formatting requirements by local court rule, established procedure, or as part of a court directive to parties.
Find Trial Briefs
It’s helpful to find other trial briefs and see examples of successful briefing in other cases. Wisconsin circuit court documents are not available online through the Wisconsin Circuit Court Access (WCCA) website. However, legal databases may have searchable collections of trial documents – including briefs. Broader keyword searches may include key phrases such as “trial brief,” “briefing,” “circuit court brief,” and more.
Westlaw provides access to collections of trial court documents. In Westlaw Edge, head to the Wisconsin section and look for “Trial court documents” to search for circuit court filings like briefs. Researching trial court orders can also be useful and lead you to cases with briefs. Request briefs from local clerks of court.
Lexis: In Lexis+, navigate to Wisconsin materials, and look for “Briefs, Pleadings and Motions.” Search by topic or county and for documents that contain keywords like “brief” in the document title. You can also search for trial court orders on Lexis, which can lead you to useful cases. Try searching for the words “brief” and “motion” near each other to find briefs filed to support motions.
Wisconsin Circuit Court Records
WCCA provides limited opportunities to find cases by topic. Looking up circuit court cases by case classification code, county, and date range on the advanced search is the best strategy to locate cases on a particular topic in WCCA.
However, this approach can often be more time-consuming than helpful. First, for frequently used case types, your search can return far too many results to page through.
In order to review cases for the presence of trial briefs, you’ll need to skim the case’s docket to see if a circuit court brief was noted in the online court record (like this example of a mention of a court brief in the record).
However, if you have a citation to a circuit court case in Wisconsin, and the case is within the retention period, contact the county clerk of court or court records department to request a copy of the trial brief on file. Using legal research databases, news sources, or internet searches can be faster to identify cases that may have examples of trial briefs related to your issue.
Sample Briefs
Look to published books and articles for other sample trial briefs. For example, the Wisconsin Criminal Defense Manual (State Bar PINNACLE) includes a formatted sample brief in support of defendant’s motion for expert funding.
Appellate briefs and federal court briefs have their own requirements on length, formatting, and content. However, these briefs are readily available in databases and online and can be helpful models for structuring your written argument as well.
Helpful Sources
Beyond finding examples, honing your writing skills can help you turn a trial brief into a powerful part of your case.
Start with articles, like “The Pugilist’s Guide to Brief Writing” (Wisconsin Lawyer, May 2023) and “E-filing: How to Craft Effective Motions and Briefs in the Digital Era” (Wisconsin Lawyer, November 2016).
Settle in with a useful book to further your skills. The Wisconsin State Law Library’s research guide on briefs and opinion writing includes several books on drafting briefs, and legal writing and citation in general. Try these for a brief (all puns intended) guide to crafting an effective brief.
A Brief Guide to Brief Writing: Demystifying the Memorandum of Law, by Janet S. Kole (2013). An ABA book, this short guide is a no-nonsense window to the key elements to include in a brief, and essential writing tips for impactful statements.
Thinking Like a Writer: A Lawyer’s Guide to Effective Writing and Editing, by Stephen V. Armstrong and others (2021). A chapter devoted to briefs unpacks what judges want to see in a brief, with sample statements and structure.
Writing Shorter Legal Documents: Strategies for Faster and Better Editing, by Sandra J. Oster, ca. 2011. Judges look for concise, clear briefs. Take a scalpel to your writing with this guide to clear terminology, effective revision, and cutting extraneous content.
Attorneys licensed to practice in Wisconsin can get a library card to check out print books, or try these e-books out now:
Get Fast Help
Wisconsin’s law libraries have access to legal research databases, books, and other sources to help you to quickly find trial court documents, samples, and books to take your persuasive writing to the next level. You can find law librarians ready to assist you at these Wisconsin libraries:
