Amicus Curiae Support List                  ©Property Loss Research Bureau 2002

 

Last Modified:  8/9/2006 1:39:10 PM

Edition Date: September 15, 2004

Subject: amicus curiae support, amicus brief, amici, request, help

 

List of Requests for Amicus Curiae Support

 

 

The following is a list of cases where the parties to the case or the court believe amicus curiae briefs would be helpful.  The information is intended as a summary.  Please contact the attorney listed for additional details and procedural information.

 

Amicus Industry Support Requested -NV

 

EMC filed an appeal seeking to remedy an "abuse of discretion" by a trial court judge in Nevada.1  EMC believes that the lower court improperly declined to hold that an injured party was a "Class two insured and could not, by law, stack uninsured motorist coverage."2  Furthermore, contrary to well established law in all other jurisdictions, the court declined to find that the injured party's status as a "Corporate Manager" did not make him a "family member" of a corporate entity because corporate entities do not have family members.3

 

What can you do?

 

EMC believes this case concerns a matter important to others in the industry and wishes to encourage others to consider filing amicus curiae briefs4 to the Nevada Supreme Court.  If you believe that this is an issue of interest to your company, please contact the appropriate staff person within your organization who can review the matter.

 

For specific details regarding the case and filing information, please contact:

 

Dawn R. Siebert, Esq.

Managing Coverage Attorney

EMC Insurance Companies

515/362-7319 (work)

Dawn.R.Siebert@emcins.com

 

You can review a draft of the petition by clicking here.

 

  1. Petition for Writ of Mandamus, Employers Mut. Ins. Co., v. Judge Kenneth Cory, No.s A466566 and A466568 in the Eighth Judicial District.
  2. Id.
  3. Id.
  4. Amicus curiæ (Latin for friend of the court; plural amici curiæ) briefs are legal documents filed by non-litigants in appellate court cases, which include additional information or arguments that those outside parties wish to have considered in that particular case. See http://www.plrb.org/public/amicusCuriae.htm for more information.

 

 

If you have a case needing support, you can request such support. Simply complete the online Amicus Curiae Support Request Form or call PLRB at (630) 724-2200 and ask for the office of the General Counsel.

 

 

 

 

What is an Amicus Curiae Brief?

 

“Amicus curiæ (Latin for friend of the court; plural amici curiæ) briefs are legal documents filed by non-litigants in appellate court cases, which include additional information or arguments that those outside parties wish to have considered in that particular case. Appellate cases are otherwise limited to the factual record and arguments coming from the lower court case under appeal, and so amicus curiæ briefs are a way to keep the possibly broad legal impact of court decisions from depending solely on the parties directly involved in the case. Non-profit legal advocacy organizations such as the American Civil Liberties Union frequently submit amicus curiæ briefs to advocate for or against a particular legal change or interpretation.

 

If a case may have effects on other parties, then they may file amicus curiæ briefs. For example, if a decision will affect an entire industry, even though it is brought up against only one company, other companies may file briefs as amicus curiæ. Similarly, if a law in one state is under evaluation, and another state has a law that would be affected by the decision, then this other state may file a brief as an amicus curiæ.

 

Occasionally, however, amicus curiæ are not opinions on the argument or on one part of the argument, but simply an academic perspective. For example, if the law gives deference to a history of legislation of a certain topic, a historian may choose to evaluate the claim using his expertise. An economist, statistician, or sociologist may choose to do the same.

 

The court has discretion to grant or deny permission of parties to file briefs as amicus curiæ as it wishes. Generally, cases that are very controversial will attract a number of such briefs.”

 

<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amicus_curiae>