Role of Certificate of Compliance in Certiorari

As any attorney in the land will be ready to vouch, filing a petition for writ of certiorari is a long and arduous process. The Supreme Court sets out very exacting rules and regulations that spell out exactly how the document should be prepared.
For instance, the paper should be white, opaque, unglazed, 6 1/8 by 9 1/4 inches in size and not less than 60 pounds in weight. Nothing but “Century” family 12-point font is permissible. Similarly, there are specific rules for the margin size, cover paper, type of printing, binding style and so on. Even the maximum word count is clearly fixed and remains largely inflexible.
Therefore, any petition of certiorari can only go up to a maximum of 9000 words and never beyond. This includes all footnotes too. However, the following contents of a writ for certiorari are not included in the word limit:


•    The Questions Presented

•    The List of Parties and corporate affiliates of the filing party

•    The Table of Contents

•    The Table of Cited Authorities

•    The listing of counsel at the end of the document.

•    Any Appendix.

•    Verbatim quotations required under Rule 14.1(f) and Rule 24.1(f) if set out in the text rather than in the appendix of the petition.

Simply abiding by the word limit is not enough. The Supreme Court further requires that every petition of certiorari should also be accompanied by a Certificate of Compliance.
The certificate should clearly state the precise number of words in the brief and the fact that it complies with the word limitations. The word count of a word processing system can be relied on in this regard. However, it should be set to include all footnotes.
The certificate should be duly signed by the attorney, the unrepresented party or the preparer of the document. In case it is signed by a person other than a member of the Bar of this Court, the counsel of record or the unrepresented party, it must also contain a notarized affidavit or declaration in compliance with 28 U.S.C. § 1746.
The Certificate of Compliance forms a separate document that is placed after the Certificate of Service and before the Appendix. It should always accompany the petition of writ for certiorari at the time of filing with the Clerk of the Supreme Court.

A sample Certificate of Compliance: 

As required by Supreme Court Rule 33.1(h), I certify that the petition for a writ of certiorari contains _____ words, excluding the parts of the petition that are exempted by Supreme Court Rule 33.1(d).
I declare under penalty of perjury that the foregoing is true and correct.
Executed on ___________________

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