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Brief Length Checker: word count and page limits by court

Paste a brief or upload it, pick your court, and see the total word count, an estimate of the words that count toward the limit, and the length rules DraftAria’s court data stores for that court. No sign-up.

An estimate, not your certificate of compliance. Counting rules vary by court and by document. Base the certificate of compliance on your word processor’s count, and confirm the limit in the court’s local rules and any order in your case. Runs in your browser: no AI, and nothing leaves your device. Not legal advice.

Check your brief’s length

Or upload a .txt, Word (.docx) or PDF file. Files are read in your browser.0 characters

Method

How the count works

Words. The checker counts words separated by spaces or line breaks, as word processors usually do. A hyphenated word counts once; numbers, citations and the § symbol count. Lines that are only a page number are dropped from PDFs.

Excluded parts. For federal appellate briefs, FRAP 32(f) leaves out the cover page, disclosure statement, table of contents, table of citations, statement regarding oral argument, addendum of statutes, rules or regulations, certificates of counsel, signature block and proof of service. Headings, footnotes and quotations count. The checker looks for those parts by their headings and leaves them out; you can switch each one back in.

Limits. Only limits stored in DraftAria’s court data are shown, word for word, with the rule they cite. A word limit is compared only when the stored text states one number of words. For federal courts of appeals, the national brief limits from the federal filing guides are shown too.

What it can’t tell you

  • The number for your certificate of compliance. Use your word processor’s count on the final document.
  • A page count for Word files or pasted text. Pages depend on formatting.
  • Whether a district court or state court counts the same parts as FRAP 32(f). Many don’t; check the rule.
  • Limits set by a judge’s standing order, a scheduling order or an order granting leave to file a longer brief.

In DraftAria

Length, format and rules checks before you file

Signed in, DraftAria checks a draft against the court’s stored filing rules, generates court-formatted templates with table-of-contents and table-of-authorities placeholders and a certificate of service, and tracks deadlines per matter. See the product overview, or browse the court rules pages.

Drafting with AI? Ask Aria can tighten a section, and every answer is marked for review before you rely on it.

More free tools and reading:

FAQ

Questions about the brief length checker

Can I use this count in my certificate of compliance?

No. The count here is an estimate. Federal Rule of Appellate Procedure 32(g) lets you rely on the word count of the word-processing system used to prepare the document, so run your word processor's count on the final version, with the excluded parts left out the way your court's rules require, and use that number.

Which parts of a brief are left out of the word count?

For federal appellate briefs, FRAP 32(f) leaves out the cover page, disclosure statement, table of contents, table of citations, statement regarding oral argument, addendum containing statutes, rules or regulations, certificates of counsel, signature block, proof of service, and any item specifically excluded by the rules or by local rule. Headings, footnotes and quotations count. Other courts and other documents can have different rules, so check the rule that sets your limit.

How does the checker find those parts?

By their headings, such as "TABLE OF CONTENTS", "TABLE OF AUTHORITIES", "CORPORATE DISCLOSURE STATEMENT", "CERTIFICATE OF COMPLIANCE" and "CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE", plus the text before the first table (a cover) and a signature block that starts with "Respectfully submitted" or "/s/". Each part it finds is listed with its word count, and you can switch each one in or out of the count. It can miss a part or draw a boundary in the wrong place, so check the list.

Where do the court limits come from?

From DraftAria's court data: the length rules stored for each court, shown word for word with the rule they cite. For federal courts of appeals, the national limits for briefs from DraftAria's federal filing guides are shown too. The data has not yet been verified against the courts' official rules, and a court's rule may set different limits for different documents, so confirm the limit in the current rules and any order in your case.

Why doesn't it show a page count for my Word file or pasted text?

Because the number of pages depends on formatting: font, size, spacing, margins and page breaks. Pasted text and the text read from a Word file don't carry a reliable page layout. For a PDF, the checker shows the number of pages in the file.

Does it check a page limit?

Only roughly. When a court's stored limit is in pages and you upload a PDF, the checker says whether the whole PDF is within the limit. If the PDF is longer, it can't tell you whether you are over, because covers, tables and certificates often don't count toward a page limit.

Is my brief sent anywhere?

No. The checker runs entirely in your browser. Text you paste and files you upload are read on your device; nothing is sent to DraftAria, to an AI model or to any other service, and nothing is saved when you leave the page.

Why is the count different from my word processor's?

Word processors differ in small ways, for example in how they count symbols, dashes and text in headers, footers or text boxes, and a PDF can contain page numbers and running headers that are not part of the text. The checker counts words separated by spaces, counts hyphenated words once, counts numbers and citations, and drops lines that are only a page number in PDFs. Small differences are normal.

Check the whole filing, not just the length.

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