But how would classic works of the past have fared if their prospective readers had had only a brief pitch to judge them on?
He was ordered to submit a brief to the judge by Wednesday morning, and Army prosecutors were asked to submit their own brief in response.
But in brief remarks to Judge Parker before the sentencing, Mr. Paroli, his voice cracking, mumbled, "I apologize to my family for the embarrassment I caused them".
Mr. Moffat -- who wore a charcoal pinstripe suit and gave brief answers to Judge Maas's questions -- admitted to providing information about a proposed reorganization of A.M.D. and lower-than-expected earnings at Lenovo to Danielle Chiesi, then a consultant at New Castle Funds, a hedge fund.
These partners are among the early investors in the Lipper funds and, in a brief filed to Judge Moskowitz, they state that the Lipper plan discriminates against them, in favor of investors who came on board in 2000 and 2001, when much of the fund's money was raised.
In briefs presented to Judge Nicholas H. Politan of United States District Court, who will preside over today's hearing, Mr. Scarfo and his lawyers assert that any evidence collected with the help of the keyboard logger should be thrown out because the technology was not used in ways that passed Constitutional muster.
In a brief to the three-judge panel of appellate judges, Ms. Reno concluded that there was "only weak circumstantial evidence of the vice president's knowledge -- his presence at a meeting where the subject was briefly discussed -- which I do not believe provides reasonable ground to believe that further investigation of this matter is warranted".
And I have no brief to defend the judge's decision to discuss the case with reporters while the trial was proceeding, even given the embargo on any reporting concerning those conversations until after the trial.
The latest step in the case came Tuesday, when the EFF filed its brief to a 9th Circuit Court of Appeals judge in California.
