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Amicus Curiae
ah-MEE-koose KOO-ree-aye - "friend of the court"
Latin scholar Eugene Ehrlich defined this term as "an impartial spokesman in a court of law...a person not party to a litigation who volunteers or is invited by the court to give advice on matters pending before it" (Amo, Amas, Amat and More, p. 42 [1987]). The term is normally used in the context of one who files an amicus curiae brief (often simply called an "amicus"). An amicus brief is an unsolicited written testimony that offers information on some aspect of the case that may be helpful to the court in deciding the matter at hand. This may be a legal opinion, or it could be a detailed treatise on some complex subject that pertains to the litigation.
A common example of amicus curiae is that of an advocacy group - such as the American Civil Liberties Union - that files a brief during an appeal process. Appellate cases are based primarily on the facts of the lower court's decision, as well as the arguments of the attorneys involved. Naturally, each attorney focuses on those facts and arguments most likely to be favorable to his or her client. Sometimes however, a case has broader implications for society.
One example was the amicus brief filed by the Center for Internet & Society (CIS) on behalf of the defendant in the 2002 California case Intel v. Hamidi. Kourosh K. Hamidi had been sued by Intel for sending "unsolicited e-mails" to its employees complaining about the company's labor policies. The brief basically argued that a private corporation has no right to control the way people use the Internet, and that as far as Internet communication was concerned, the interests of private property must be balanced against the First Amendment right of free speech.
In the case of injury and wrongful death cases, the court may call upon medical and industrial experts to add their expertise in the form of an amicus brief.