Records and briefs are the “materials submitted by the parties in appellate court cases”, The record is composed of documents that were generated during the life of a case, such as pleadings, motions, trial transcripts and expert witness testimony, exhibits, and the actual decision that is being appealed. The briefs are actual written arguments that the attorneys use in their appeal.
The briefs that are submitted to the Appellate Division can be used to study the specific arguments used by the parties in a particular case, and the authorities (case law, statutes, and secondary sources) these arguments relied on. If the record is also available, it can provide invaluable access to a case’s documentary and procedural history, and may include unique, hard-to-find documents that may not be available anywhere else.