Drafting a petition for writ of certiorari demands extensive legal research, precise Supreme Court formatting compliance, identification of circuit splits, and meticulous citation verification—typically consuming 8+ hours of attorney time. The high stakes of Supreme Court practice leave no room for formatting errors or incomplete legal analysis, yet manual research across multiple databases is time-intensive and prone to oversight.
Preparing a petition for writ of certiorari requires 40+ hours of meticulous work analyzing procedural history, identifying grounds for review under Rule 10, researching circuit splits, and ensuring strict compliance with Supreme Court formatting rules. The high stakes and technical complexity make certiorari petitions among the most demanding documents in legal practice, requiring expertise that many attorneys encounter only rarely in their careers.
CaseMark analyzes your case materials, automatically identifies potential grounds for certiorari including circuit splits and conflicts with Supreme Court precedent, and generates a fully formatted, Rule-compliant petition in minutes. Our AI extracts key facts with record citations, structures arguments around Rule 10 criteria, and ensures compliance with all Supreme Court formatting requirements including word limits, citation formats, and appendix organization.
This workflow is applicable across multiple practice areas and use cases
Criminal defense attorneys seek Supreme Court review for constitutional violations, sentencing issues, and circuit splits on criminal procedure matters.
Certiorari petitions are critical in criminal defense for challenging wrongful convictions, excessive sentences, and establishing defendant rights through Supreme Court precedent.
IP litigators seek Supreme Court review on patent validity, trademark scope, and copyright fair use issues with national importance.
The Supreme Court regularly grants certiorari in IP cases involving circuit splits on patent eligibility, claim construction standards, and copyright doctrine affecting entire industries.
Class action attorneys seek Supreme Court review on certification standards, settlement approval criteria, and procedural requirements under Rule 23.
Certiorari petitions are common in class actions where circuit courts disagree on predominance, ascertainability, and other certification requirements affecting nationwide litigation.
Employment attorneys petition for certiorari on discrimination, wage-hour, and labor law issues where circuit courts have conflicting interpretations.
Supreme Court review is frequently sought in employment cases involving Title VII, ADA, FLSA, and other employment statutes where circuit splits create uncertainty for employers and employees.
Environmental attorneys petition for certiorari on regulatory authority, Clean Air/Water Act interpretations, and administrative law questions.
Supreme Court review is essential in environmental law for resolving conflicts over EPA authority, environmental standing, and major questions doctrine applications.
Under Supreme Court Rule 10, the most common grounds are: (1) a conflict among federal circuit courts or state supreme courts on an important federal question, (2) a decision that conflicts with applicable Supreme Court precedent, or (3) an important federal question that requires Supreme Court resolution. The Court grants review in fewer than 2% of petitions, so demonstrating significance beyond the individual case is essential. CaseMark analyzes your case to identify which grounds apply and structures your petition accordingly.
CaseMark analyzes the legal issues in your case and cross-references them against federal appellate and state supreme court decisions to identify genuine conflicts on the same legal question. The system distinguishes between actual splits (where courts reach different legal conclusions) and mere differences in reasoning or factual application. It then generates analysis showing how the decisions are irreconcilable and emphasizes the practical consequences of the conflict, such as forum shopping or inconsistent application of federal law.
Supreme Court Rule 33 requires 6⅛ by 9¼ inch paper, Century family font in 12-point type, double-spacing, three-quarter inch margins, and a 9,000-word limit (excluding certain sections). The petition must include specific sections in prescribed order: Questions Presented, tables, parties disclosure, relevant provisions, statement of case, reasons for granting the writ, and an appendix with lower court opinions. CaseMark automatically formats your petition to meet all these requirements, including proper cover page color-coding and required certifications.
Supreme Court Rule 13 requires filing within 90 days of entry of the judgment or order you're appealing, or within 90 days of denial of a timely petition for rehearing. Extensions up to 60 days may be granted for good cause. CaseMark automatically calculates your filing deadline based on the dates in your case documents and alerts you to any timeliness issues that could affect jurisdiction.
Yes. For cases from state courts under 28 U.S.C. § 1257, CaseMark verifies that the federal question was properly preserved and presented to the state court of last resort, analyzes whether jurisdictional prerequisites are satisfied, and documents the procedural path through state courts. The system ensures your petition demonstrates that the federal issue was timely raised and addressed by the state's highest court, meeting Supreme Court jurisdictional requirements for review of state court decisions.
At minimum, you need the lower court opinion and the judgment or order under review. CaseMark also benefits from procedural history documents, rehearing orders, relevant trial court records, and any conflicting decisions from other circuits if you're asserting a circuit split. The more complete your document upload, the more comprehensive and citation-rich your petition will be. The system extracts facts, procedural history, and legal reasoning directly from these materials.