In a case that arises from the NFL’s obsession with technical rules, the NFL has violated one of the most basic technical rules of federal appellate practice.
Per various reports, the NFL’s recently-filed reply brief in the Tom Brady case. And so the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit required the NFL to re-file the brief.
It’s not a big deal, but it’s embarrassing to the lawyers involved in the submission and preparation of the briefs. The fact that no one noticed this before filing the NFL’s reply brief suggests a basic lack of attention to detail that could at least make clients of the folks responsible for the fairly simple assignment have their act together on matters of substance.
Often, law firms use outside printing services that prepare federal appellate briefs in a way that conforms with each of the various technical rules that apply to how the paperwork looks. Even then, someone from the law firm should be at least looking at the documents that are being submitted to ensure that they comply.
And if there is ever any doubt about any question regarding the form or appearance of the brief, a simple phone call to the court usually clears things up.
The good news is that it’s not the biggest color-related embarrassment for the NFL of 2015. That title goes to the Color Rush game between the Jets and the Bills, featuring all green and all red uniforms that people with red-green colorblindness couldn’t distinguish.
