Federal courts of appeals
All thirteen circuits on the Federal Rules of Appellate Procedure, each with its local rules: addenda, appendices, certificates and record-citation forms.
A Microsoft Word add-in for litigators
The court's rules, read into every draft.
BenchRead reads the court from your caption, checks the paper against that court's rules, local rules and the judge's own practices, and proposes every fix as a tracked change in your name.
- 108 courts and agencies
- 13 federal circuits
- Every rule linked to its source
Error: over the judge's 10-page limit
Warning: 3,468 of 3,500 words
Five tools on one ribbon tab
From first draft to filed, without leaving Word.
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01
Draft
Start a paper laid out to the court's rules: caption, required sections in order, signature block and certificates. New Jersey's attorney block above the caption, Pennsylvania's three-inch top margin, Georgia's notarized affidavits and each circuit's own brief parts are built in.
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02
Check
Word and page limits counted the way the rule counts them, with the judge's limit when it is stricter. Type size, spacing and margins. Required tables, statements, record citations and certificates. Suggested cuts when you are over, and the word-count certificate filled in.
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03
Cite
Every citation in the text, footnotes and table of authorities: pin cites, short forms, id. and supra, italics, spacing, and whether the table of authorities matches the brief. Fixes arrive as tracked changes you accept or reject.
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04
BenchRead Insights
For judges in BenchRead's opinion index, the judge's record on your motion, how often the judge has cited each of your authorities, and the judge's own opinions on the same questions.
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05
Finalize
Sign every signature line, remove BenchRead's comments, update the tables, set the signing date and save the PDF in one step.
Drafted to each court's conventions
Six courts, six different first pages.
Placeholders are highlighted; BenchRead's notes explain the rule behind each part and come out when you finalize.
R. 1:4-1(b) attorney block above the caption
Pa.R.C.P. 204.1 three-inch top space
Venue, oath and notary jurat
Rule 24 certification above the signature
12-point text, required short appendix
Rule 28(a)(1) certificate before the tables
New in 0.4.2
Know the judge before you file.
Look up any judge in CourtListener's judge database from the side panel.
- Time on the bench. When the judge took the current seat, years in it, and years since first judicial service.
- Selection. Appointment or election, nomination and confirmation dates, and the appointing official.
- Party, with its source. A judge's own recorded affiliation is shown with where it came from. An appointer's party is labeled as the appointer's, never the judge's.
- Prior legal experience and education. Clerkships, government service, practice, earlier judgeships and degrees.
- Most-cited opinions. The judge's authored opinions ranked by how often courts cite them.
Shown with sample data for a fictional judge. Uses your own free CourtListener token, at most five requests per lookup.
Coverage in 0.4.2
Trial, appellate and agency rules, with sources.
Each rule carries its citation, a link to the source and the date it was verified.
Federal trial courts
Districts in New York, California, Florida, Texas, Illinois, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Georgia and Ohio, plus the Supreme Court and the Tax Court.
New York
Court of Appeals, all four Appellate Divisions, Appellate Terms, Supreme Court and Commercial Division, Surrogate's, Family, County, Civil, District, City and Justice Courts, and the Court of Claims.
California · Florida · Texas
Highest courts, intermediate appellate courts, trial courts and business courts, with Los Angeles, Miami-Dade complex business and Harris County local rules.
Illinois · Pennsylvania · New Jersey
Every level, from circuit courts, Common Pleas and the Law Division through the Supreme Courts, with Cook County's Law Division.
Georgia · Ohio · Agencies
Every level in Georgia and Ohio, and tribunals including the SEC, NLRB, MSPB, state administrative hearing offices and tax tribunals.
How it works
Three steps, all reviewable.
1
Open your paper
BenchRead reads the court, the paper type and the judge from the cover and shows the text each guess came from. Change any of them in one click.
2
Analyze
Findings are ranked as errors, warnings and notes, each with the rule it applies and a link to the source. The live counter updates as you edit.
3
Accept what you agree with
Every change is a Word tracked change in your name, and every comment starts with "BenchRead:". Nothing is applied that you cannot see.
Your documents stay yours. Uploads to the BenchRead server are deleted after each request.
Sources, not guesses. Rules cite the text they come from, with the date verified.
Not a citator. Research and pin-cite suggestions point you to cases; confirm with your citator before filing.
Next
What we are building.
- More courts. Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, New York matrimonial practice, bankruptcy courts, D.C. and territorial courts, then every remaining state.
- Arbitration. Templates and submission rules for JAMS, AAA and ICDR.
- Agencies. More federal, state and local tribunals with submission rules.
- Judge profile. Standing orders and individual practices linked from the profile, and wider state-court coverage.
- Hosted service. Firm sign-in with Microsoft Entra ID and audit logs that never contain document text.
Bring BenchRead to your next filing.
BenchRead is in pilot testing. Leave your e-mail for early access.