Brandeis brief

law

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June 22, 2026

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The "Brandeis brief" refers to a legal document submitted in the 1908 Supreme Court case Muller v. State of Oregon. This brief, largely authored by Louis Brandeis, argued for the constitutionality of an Oregon law limiting women's working hours to 10 per day.1

Instead of focusing on economic arguments, Brandeis presented extensive sociological and scientific data to support the claim that long working hours were detrimental to women's health and reproductive capabilities. The Supreme Court accepted this reasoning, ruling that women's unique physical and social roles justified special legal protections. While seen as a victory for worker welfare at the time, this approach reinforced gender stereotypes and later contributed to limiting women's workplace equality. Louis Brandeis was a lawyer and later an Associate Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court.12

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Josephine Clara Goldmark
…of her brother-in-law’s famous "Brandeis briefs," notably the one filed in Muller v. Oregon in 1908, and, after Felix Frankfurter’s appointment to the Supreme Court in 1916, she frequently served him in a similar capacity. In 1911–13 Goldmark served with Frances Perkins, Robert Wagner, Alfred E. Smith, and others…
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…of her brother-in-law’s famous "Brandeis briefs," notably the one filed in Muller v. Oregon in 1908, and, after Felix Frankfurter’s appointment to the Supreme Court in 1916, she frequently served him in a similar capacity. In 1911–13 Goldmark served with Frances Perkins, Robert Wagner, Alfred E. Smith, and others…
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Louis Brandeis
…known to lawyers as the Brandeis brief, in which economic and sociological data, historical experience, and expert opinions are marshaled to support the legal propositions. His most notable book, a volume of essays, Other People’s Money, and How the Bankers Use It (1914), dealt with the control exercised by investment…
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…known to lawyers as the Brandeis brief, in which economic and sociological data, historical experience, and expert opinions are marshaled to support the legal propositions. His most notable book, a volume of essays, Other People’s Money, and How the Bankers Use It (1914), dealt with the control exercised by investment…
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Muller v. State of Oregon
…what became known as the “Brandeis brief,” a 113-page document outlining quasiscientific data on the negative effects of long working hours on both women and men, he focused particularly on women’s dependent and biologically reproductive roles as opposed to economic issues. The court, referring to the “proper discharge of her…
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…what became known as the “Brandeis brief,” a 113-page document outlining quasiscientific data on the negative effects of long working hours on both women and men, he focused particularly on women’s dependent and biologically reproductive roles as opposed to economic issues. The court, referring to the “proper discharge of her…
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brief
…became known as a “Brandeis brief,” after the United States Supreme Court justice Louis Brandeis, who made effective use of it. When a court permits an outsider to file a brief in a case to which the outsider is not a party, it is generally referred to as an…
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…became known as a “Brandeis brief,” after the United States Supreme Court justice Louis Brandeis, who made effective use of it. When a court permits an outsider to file a brief in a case to which the outsider is not a party, it is generally referred to as an…
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