You’ve probably heard that the rules committee has proposed cutting the FRAP word-limit on briefs from 14,000 to 12,500. The proposal is here. Howard Bashman ably summarizes matters in this column in the Legal Intelligencer. Inspired by Bashman’s How Appealing blog posts, I submitted this comment today:

Brevity is a reflection of good advocacy, not its cause. Under the current limit, the courts are burdened with too many aimless, bloated 14,000-word briefs. Under the proposed limit, they will get aimless, bloated 12,500-word briefs instead. The problem is real, but the solution proposed will miss the mark. I favor the current word limit.

I’m winning the shortest-comment contest for now.

You can view all the comments here. (Mine hasn’t posted yet.) Don’t miss Judge Easterbrook’s and Judge Silberman’s. You can submit a comment of your own by February 17th here.