Brief

Brief, in the practice of the English bar, is the name given to the written instructions on which barristers advocate causes in courts of justice. It is called a brief because it is, or ought to be, an abbreviated statement of the pleadings, proofs, and affidavits at law, or of the bill, answer, and other proceedings in equity, with a concise narrative of the facts and merits of the plaintiff's case, or the defendant's defence. Probably, when pleadings were entirely oral, nothing was handed to counsel except the brief or writ originating the action. The brief is often called 'observations' in Chancery proceedings. In Scotland, the corresponding term is Memorial. Breve (q.v.) in Scotland has a different meaning. This paper should be confined to the statement of facts without argument or quotation. —Kings' Briefs were royal mandates ordering collections to be made in chapels for building churches, relieving sufferers by fire, refugees, and suffering Protestants abroad. See Walford, Kings' Briefs (1882).