WBA Amicus Curiae Practice
The WBA participates as an amicus party in briefs filed in appellate courts at the state and federal level. Signing on to and filing independent amicus curiae (“friend of the court”) briefs furthers the WBA’s desire to advocate for the issues that are most pressing to its membership and that align with its mission. Amicus briefs filed by or with the support of the WBA offer a critical voice, relevant insight, and persuasive arguments that may assist jurists deciding important, precedential legal cases.
The WBA welcomes applications for amicus support. This page includes information about the WBA’s selection criteria and evaluation process. For more information about cases that we have supported, please review summaries of the cases on the Amicus Brief Sign-Ons page. Persons interested in requesting amicus support from the WBA for a pending case can complete our Advocacy Request Form after reviewing the information below.
Priority Issues and Selection Criteria
Formal selection criteria help streamline the evaluation process, establish consistency in our reviews, and ensure that the cases selected align with the WBA’s mission and its advocacy priorities. The WBA’s priorities issues and amicus curiae selection criteria are outlined below:
Priority Issues
- Equal pay;
- Domestic violence;
- Sexual harassment and discrimination;
- Healthcare, including access to reproductive care;
- Flexible work-life equation;
- The Equal Rights Amendment;
- A diverse and independent judiciary; and
- Suffrage for the District of Columbia;
Click here for WBA’s issue statements.
Selection Criteria
- Whether the amicus support in the case will further the WBA’s mission and prior issues;
- The level of the court where the brief will be filed;
- The deadline for filing an amicus brief;
- We ask that you submit your request at least 45 days before the court’s deadline to file an amicus brief if you are seeking an independent brief filed by the WBA. This timeframe factors in time for obtaining leave to participate as an amicus party (if needed) and helps the WBA contact law firm pro bono partners to represent the organization if it chooses to support your case.
- If you are seeking only a sign-on for an existing brief, please submit your request two weeks before the brief is due and submit the draft brief ten days before the brief is due.
- Persons unable to submit a request at least within these time windows should still submit a request via our Advocacy Request Form and the WBA will make all reasonable efforts to support litigants raising priority issues.
- The quality of and positions taken in the principal briefs or other amicus briefs filed;
- The public interest in or the public impact of the case; and
- The Amicus Subcommittee’s analysis of the record.
Evaluation Process
Filing or signing onto an amicus brief requires the support of the WBA Amicus Subcommittee and the WBA Board of Directors. The submission and evaluation process are outlined below.
- A party or person interested in receiving the WBA’s support should complete and submit our form. This form requests certain case and contact information and provides the Amicus Subcommittee with a better understanding about how supporting the case aligns with the WBA’s priorities and overall mission.
- All completed forms are reviewed by the WBA Amicus Subcommittee on a rolling basis. The Subcommittee will review the contents of the form guided by the selection criteria outlined above. Submitting a request is not a guarantee that a party will receive amicus support from the WBA.
- For requests that the Amicus Subcommittee believes the WBA should support, the Amicus Subcommittee will provide a written recommendation to the WBA Board of Directors. The Board of Directors will review this recommendation and vote on whether to support the case.
- If the WBA chooses to support a recommended case, a representative from the WBA will contact the person listed on the Advocacy Request Form. For requests that seek an independent brief filed by the WBA, approval by the Board of Directors is strictly conditioned upon the WBA finding a suitable law firm pro bono partner to represent the WBA. For requests that seek only sign-on support, approval is effective after a WBA member contacts the party requesting support and communicates that the WBA has approved the request and can be listed on the amicus brief.