Judges Push Brevity in Briefs, and Get a Torrent of Arguments – “The Constitution of the United States clocks in at 4,543 words. Yet a number of lawyers contend that 14,000 words are barely enough to lay out their legal arguments. That’s the maximum word count for briefs filed in federal appellate courts. For years, judges have complained that too many briefs are repetitive and full of outmoded legal jargon, and that they take up too much of their time. A recent proposal to bring the limit down by 1,500 words unleashed an outcry among lawyers.”