amicus

noun

ami·​cus ə-ˈmē-kəs  -ˈmī- 

plural amici ə-ˈmē-ˌkē 

-ˈmī-ˌsī

: someone (such as a professional person) or something (such as an organization) that is not a party to a particular case but that is allowed by the court upon petition or by the court's request to advise it in respect to some matter of law that directly affects the case in question : amicus curiae

I'd like to urge you to begin thinking about filing a brief as amicus in this case.

—Jonathan Mahler

… Mr. Benkard recently had joined in an … amicus brief seeking overturn of a U.S. Claims Court judgement …

—The National Law Journal

Two dozen prominent law professors and economists called attention to this problem in an amicus brief submitted to the FTC's administrative tribunal.

—Rachel Chiu

Examples of amicus in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

In our case, the Reporters’ Committee [amicus] brief was joined by 77 news organizations, and so that’s really meaningful. — Ted Johnson, Deadline, 30 Oct. 2026

In an amicus brief filed Friday, the nonprofit behind Wikipedia weighed in on a set of lawsuits pitting publishers including The New York Times against OpenAI and Microsoft, taking neither side. — Lauren Feiner, The Verge, 30 Oct. 2026

Attorneys general from 39 states and the District of Columbia have filed an amicus brief supporting New Jersey’s case against Kalshi. — Josh Appel, Washington Post, 26 Oct. 2026

Bonta has instead joined amicus briefs in eight lawsuits against prediction markets. — Scott Lebar. Story Produced With Ai Assistance, Sacbee.com, 15 Oct. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1916, in the meaning defined above

Phrases Containing amicus

• amicus curiae

Legal Definition

amicus

noun

ami·​cus ə-ˈmē-kəs, -ˈmī- 

plural amici -ˈmē-ˌkē, -ˈmī-ˌsī 

: amicus curiae