brief 在法律专业语境下的专业含义为：a written argument submitted to the court by counsel setting forth facts and/or law supporting his or her client's cases.

在法律文书中，brief 是诉讼双方律师撰写的向法院提交的一种相当重要的法律文书。按其内容讲，brief可以分为两大类，即 trial court brief 和appellate court brief。二者均有严格的格式要求。一般格式要求包括：

statement of issue

——

statement of the case

——

statement of the facts

——

summary of the argument

——

argument

——

standard of review

——

discussion

——

conclusion

这几个大部分。

brief 也是在上诉法院控辩双方律师口头辩论的基础。有时候，上诉法院根本不用开庭，法官会直接在双方律师提交的brief基础上直接作出判决。

brief可以理解为：案件辩论书；或者辩护状。在译文中应结合上下文语境灵活进行翻译处理。

【双语例句】

While, generally, this strategy has saved time in completing firstinstance trials, the volume of materials involved in such multiple-accused cases, including evidence, transcripts, briefs and submissions, represents a dramatic increase in the workload of the Appeals Chamber as these cases reach it. 

尽管这一策略总体来说节省了完成一审审理所需时间，但此类多 名被告案件涉及的材料的数量，包括证据、记录誊本 、 辩护状 和 意 见书，意味着 当这些多名被告案送抵上诉分庭时，该分庭的工作量会急剧增加。 

On 29 July 2021, the Council of State, being both judge and party, submitted a defence brief in response to the application on the merits filed by the author.

2021 年7月29 日，既是法官又是当事方的行政法院针对提交人提出的案情 申诉提交了一份被告辩护状。