8.4.13 THE CONCLUSION
The only requirement that the Court imposes on the conclusion, in Rule 24.1(j), is that it “[specify] with particularity the relief the party seeks.” At a minimum, your conclusion should tell the court what you want it to do: affirm, reverse, reverse and remand, or vacate the decision below.
Be precise when requesting relief. Ask the court to “affirm” or “reverse,” not to “uphold” or “overrule” the decision below. Many lawyers write only one sentence as a conclusion, as in this example:
GOOD EXAMPLE For the foregoing reasons, this Court should reverse the decision below.
It can be effective to make the conclusion more specific to your case. Even if you wish to do so, however, you should usually avoid writing a lengthy conclusion. Instead, substitute your best reason(s) for the opening clause, as in this example:
GOOD EXAMPLE Because the First Amendment should never be interpreted in a way that keeps truthful information from consumers, this Court should affirm the decision below.
You will sometimes see flowery language in the conclusion, such as “Counsel for the Petitioner respectfully requests that the Court affirm the decision below.” Although this language probably does not hurt counsel, it probably does not help, either. Because the words “respectfully submitted” appear in the signature block, just below the conclusion, there is probably no need to use “respectfully” in the conclusion itself. Indeed, briefs filed by the solicitor general of the United States typically have extremely short conclusions, consisting most often of an extremely short request for relief:
GOOD EXAMPLES The judgment of the court of appeals should be reversed. The judgment of the court of appeals should be affirmed. Some courts will have little patience for a conclusion that is much longer than a paragraph. Make sure that you are aware of both local rules and local customs in this regard.