BENCH MEMO

bench memo. 1. A short brief submitted by a lawyer to a trial judge, often at the judge’s request. 2. A legal memorandum prepared by an appellate judge’s law clerk to help the judge in preparing for oral argument and perhaps in drafting an opinion. • A trial-court judge may similarly assign a bench memo to a law clerk, for use in preparing for hearing or trial or in drafting an opinion.[Blacks Law 8th]