Hyperlink in Briefs

My Question to AppellateTwitter

#appellatetwitter: Has any court started requiring hyperlinks to case cites in briefs? Has any lawyer started putting them in voluntarily, just for the reader's convenience? Is this a bad idea?
10:06 PM · Jan 28, 2021 Eric Rasmusen@erasmuse

The links wouldn't have to be Westlaw or Lexis. Better would be links to free public websites like Google Scholar or the Cornell site
 Eric Rasmusen@erasmuse

I used to do it. When our office had Lexis, it was very easy to even include hyperlinks to pin cites. It's harder to do that with Westlaw, but it is possible. I stopped though, because I was told that the Texas Courts system automatically inserts hyperlinks.
 
The New York Appellate Division requires it.  (Or requires the cases to be compiled as an addendum to the brief, but hyperlinks are easier.)
Doug Gladden@gladden_dallas
 
It's interesting that two state courts are ahead of any federal court on this.
Sean Marotta@smmarotta

Comments from Judges

I did this for my Flynn amicus brief in 2020 with the DC Circuit. There is certainly no rule against it, and I thought it would help readers.

I asked two judges I know, one state, one federal appellate, and both were cool on the idea. The state judge said, too, that he actually likes the Table of Authorities (which I am dubious about) because it gives him a read on what the case is going to be like, rather like professor who starts by skimming the References section of a paper.

---