The Supreme Court of Virginia adopted amendments to the Rules concerning non-parties filing an amicus curiae brief in the Court of Appeals of Virginia or the Supreme Court of Virginia. (Rules 5:30, 5A:23) These amendments go into effect on August 17, 2025.
What Is an Amicus Curiae (Friend of the Court) Brief?
An amicus curiae brief (often shortened to amicus brief), is submitted to a court by someone who is not a party to a case but is interested in its outcome. Often in cases with potential to establish important precedent on a point of law, amici such as legal experts, political leaders and bodies, trade organizations, and interest groups ask for the opportunity to inform the appellate court about how the decision may affect certain industries or groups of people or offer insights and analysis that might influence the court's decision.
Amicus briefs may be filed at the petition stage (when an appellate court is deciding whether to take a case), the merits stage, the rehearing stage, or in matters using the appellate court’s original jurisdiction.
Since many organizations do not have in-house attorneys who are deeply familiar with appellate standards and practices, frequently outside attorneys are hired to prepare the briefs on their behalf.
The new rules are designed to ensure the appellate courts in Virginia have a full picture of who is authoring or funding an amicus curiae brief that is before them.
New Disclosure Rules
When the new rules take effect, except when the brief is filed by the United States of America or the Commonwealth of Virginia, an amicus curiae brief filed in either appellate court must include a statement indicating if the following conditions apply:
- A party’s counsel authored all or part of a brief
- Whether a party or a party’s counsel contributed money intended to fund preparing or submitting the brief
- Whether a person, other than the amicus curiae, its members, or its counsel, contributed money intended to fund preparing or submitting the brief, and that identifies that person
The author thanks Woods Rogers Summer Associate Nathan Heastie for his co-authorship, research, and insightful contributions to this article. Nathan is pursuing his J.D. at Washington and Lee University School of Law.
