While we normally blog about matters of North Carolina appellate practice and procedure, occasionally an interesting article comes along that causes us to veer slightly off course. Our attention was recently brought to a federal New York district court case where a California attorney who opposed the Justice Department’s proposed antitrust settlement with three publishers of e-books filed an amicus brief in the form of a comic strip. 

The amicus brief complied with the margin and typeset requirements of the court, and even contained a table of cases and authorities.  However, the substance of the “brief” was contained in a 5-page comic strip.  Take a look at the amicus brief here.

The Court apparently was not persuaded, as it approved the settlement the next day.  However, unlike the dry amicus briefs that most of us write, this amicus brief and the point the attorney was trying to make have received substantial press.  Perhaps this attorney realized he was fighting an uphill battle with the settlement agreement and decided to settle for a public awareness campaign.

Creative or counterproductive?  Let us know what you think.

Finally, hat tip to the ABA journal for its original coverage of this story and to James Stuart for bringing this creative amicus brief to our attention.

-Beth Scherer