Legal Definitions - prolixity rejection

A prolixity rejection occurs when a court or other legal authority refuses to accept or strikes down a legal document because it is excessively long, repetitive, or contains unnecessary and irrelevant information. The term "prolixity" refers to the quality of being overly wordy or verbose. Legal documents are expected to be clear, concise, and directly address the relevant issues. When a submission is so lengthy and convoluted that it hinders understanding or wastes judicial resources, it may be subject to a prolixity rejection.

Here are some examples:

• Example 1: Overly Detailed Complaint

  A plaintiff files a lawsuit against a company, submitting a complaint that is 150 pages long. Instead of clearly stating the facts and legal claims, the document includes lengthy personal anecdotes, philosophical musings, and repeated arguments that do not directly contribute to the legal basis of the claim. The court, finding the complaint to be excessively verbose and difficult to decipher, issues a prolixity rejection, instructing the plaintiff to refile a concise and legally sound complaint.

  This illustrates a prolixity rejection because the court refuses the document due to its excessive length and inclusion of irrelevant, repetitive material, which obstructs the clear presentation of the legal case.

• Example 2: Patent Application with Redundant Descriptions

  An inventor submits a patent application for a new mechanical device. The application's description of the invention and its background runs to several hundred pages, repeatedly explaining the same basic principles using slightly different wording and detailing numerous prior art examples that are only tangentially related. The patent examiner, struggling to identify the novel aspects of the invention amidst the overwhelming detail, issues an office action citing prolixity rejection, requiring the applicant to significantly condense and clarify the description to focus on the essential elements and claims.

  This demonstrates a prolixity rejection because the patent office deems the application's description to be unnecessarily long and repetitive, making it difficult to understand the actual invention and its unique features.

• Example 3: Appellate Brief Exceeding Scope and Length Limits

  In an appeal, an attorney files a brief that is twice the court's page limit. The brief not only exceeds the allowed length but also rehashes factual disputes that were already decided at the trial level, rather than focusing on the specific legal errors made by the lower court. The appellate court, recognizing that the brief is overly long, repetitive, and fails to adhere to the rules of appellate procedure, issues a prolixity rejection and orders the attorney to submit a revised brief that complies with the court's rules and focuses solely on the legal issues under appeal.

  This shows a prolixity rejection because the court rejects the brief for being excessively long and containing irrelevant information (re-arguing facts) that does not serve the purpose of an appellate review, thereby hindering the efficient administration of justice.