The Supreme Court is the highest court in the land, which means that lawyers involved in cases in lower courts can appeal to the Supreme Court and hope to get a place on the docket so that the justices will hear the case and make a decision. Part of the Supreme Court's process requires that any law practice that wants to submit a case to be seen by the justices needs to follow Supreme Court Rule 33.1, which is about printing case booklets to submit to the court.

The best way to do that is to work with a printing company that handles many of these documents. The printing company can help because they know all the requirements and will print out a booklet to meet them. So, what are some of the requirements that the documents need to meet? 

Number of Copies

One of the requirements is how many copies of the booklet need to be submitted to the court. Forty bound copies and one unbound copy of the brief need to be submitted to the clerks of the court. That number allows each of the justices to have a copy, as well as their clerks, and one for the public records. 

Paper

The Supreme Court also requires that all booklets are printed on paper that is at least a certain weight. The way that paper weight is determined is by how much an uncut ream of that paper weighs when put on a scale. So, a piece of paper that is 10 weight means that an uncut ream of that paper weighs 10 pounds. Generally, the heavier the weight of paper, the thicker it is, and the higher quality it is. The cover of the booklet also needs to be a certain weight, as well as a specific color. Different kinds of briefs and documents need to have different colors so that they are immediately identifiable. 

Margins and Spacing

The booklets must also have a very specific margin and spacing between the words and the lines. The reason for this is that it makes it easier to read and it gives space to mark the document for additional notes to remember a specific point. 

The biggest benefit of working with a printing company that prints documents for the Supreme Court is that they will make sure that any documents submitted to them will meet the requirements because the printing company keeps up with any changes. When everything is formatted, printed, and bound, the printer can send the booklet directly to the Supreme Court. 

Contact a local printing service to learn more about Supreme Court printing.