Whether footnotes in legal writing (whether briefs or opinions) are necessary and/or appropriate is a longstanding controversy. Opinions are mixed, and it is difficult to discern a consensus. Some say that footnotes are often necessary to define or explain a word or an idea. Others assert that footnotes are a distraction that serve to divert the attention of the reader in a way that is usually unnecessary. Then there is sometimes expressed a compromise position which is to put the footnotes at the end of the piece rather than on the page of the text.