Amicus Disclosure Proposal Advanced by Judicial Conference Panel

A US judicial advisory panel advanced a proposal that would require organizations to disclose their financial backers if they are submitting friend-of-the-court briefs in litigation.

The Wednesday vote by the Appellate Rules Committee of the Judicial Conference will send the proposed change to the standing committee with the recommendation that the proposal be published so the public can submit comments.

“We’re far from done with this, but this is a big step,” Judge Jay Bybee of the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, who chairs the panel, said following the vote.

He also said members of the panel ...