brief (subs.) Copy link Outline I. A despatchII. An outline of a legal case • brief (subs.): I. A despatch: q. v. II. An outline of a legal case: causae commentarius; brevis annotatio; libelli: Quint. 10, 7, 30, 31 (where however the expressions mean notes made by the advocate himself). Phr.: to be engaged with one's first b., primam causam s. advocationem agere: he did not get a single b., *nemo omnium eum ad causam suam defendendam advocavit, eum causae suae patronum habuit. he failed over his first b., quam primam suscepit causam, in ea offendit, v. to fail.