Writ

In English common law, a writ is a formal written order issued by a body with administrative or judicial jurisdiction; in modern usage, this body is generally a court. Warrants, prerogative writs and subpoenas are common types of writs but innumerable forms exist, as listed in Palgrave's Parliamentary Writs (1827, 1834). In its earliest form a writ was simply a written order made by the English monarch to a specified person to undertake a specified action, for example in the feudal era a military summons by the king to one of his tenants-in-chief to appear dressed for battle with retinue at a certain place and time. An early usage survives in the United Kingdom in a writ of election which is a written order issued on behalf of the monarch to High Sheriffs of every county to hold a general election. Writs were used by the medieval English kings to summon persons to Parliament (then consisting of House of Lords alone) whose advice was considered valuable or who were particularly influential, who were thereby deemed to have been created "barons by writ".

Writ (disambiguation)

Writ may refer to:

Writ (website)

Writ is a legal commentary website on the topic of the law of the United States hosted by FindLaw. The website is no longer adding content, having published its last entry in August 2011. Before then, Writ published at least one new column by one of its regular columnists every business day, and frequently posted a second column by a guest columnist. The regular columnists were all notable attorneys. Almost all contributors are law professors; some are former law clerks from the U.S. Supreme Court; some are past or present federal prosecutors; one is a former Counsel to the President; one is a novelist, and one is the current director of the Terrorism and Counterterrorism Program of Human Rights Watch. The guest columnists also tend to be law professors or seasoned attorneys. When the website was still producing new content, columnists commented both on notable ongoing court cases and recent court decisions, as well as on current events.

Writ also published occasional book reviews, on books of both legal and more general interest; the book reviewers were likewise academically inclined attorneys.