How To Brief a Case

LRW for LLM – Summer 2013

Briefing Cases

A case brief is a written summary of the basic components of a judicial decision. Persuasive briefs (trial and appellate) are the formal documents a lawyer files with a court in support of his or her client’s position.

Writing case briefs is a method of studying the law and learning how to extract from judicial opinions the legal principles (precedent) that will be applied to future cases. Briefing the cases you read for class helps you acquire the skills of case analysis and legal reasoning and helps prepare for class discussion. Case briefs also help you remember the cases you read for end-of-semester review for final examinations, and for writing and analyzing legal problems.

Although the exact form of your briefs can vary from case to case, the following parts should appear in your brief in a way that helps you understand the case and recall the needed information.

1. Heading: Case name & citation

2. Facts: Identify legally relevant facts, that is, those facts that tend to prove or

disprove an issue before the court. The relevant facts tell what happened

before the parties entered the judicial system. Also identify procedurally

significant facts. You should set out (1) the cause of action (the law the

plaintiff claimed was broken), (2) relief the plaintiff requested, (3) defenses,

if any, the defendant raised.

3. Procedural History: This is the disposition of the case in the lower court(s)

that explains how the case got to the court whose opinion you are reading. If the case is an appeal of a lower court decision, be sure to note what the lower court(s) decided. Include who appealed and why.

4. Issues: A substantive statement of the issue consists of (1) the point of law in

dispute; (2) key facts of the case relating to that point of law in dispute

(legally relevant facts). Typically, the disputed issue involves how the court

applied some element of the pertinent rule to the facts of the specific case.

Resolving the issue will determine the court’s disposition of the case.

5. Holding: This is the court’s final decision in this specific case. If you have

written the issue statement(s) correctly, the holding is often the positive or

negative statement of the issue statement.

6. Rule: This is the rule of law that the court applies to determine the

substantive rights of the parties. The rule of law could derive from a statute, case rule, regulation, or may be a synthesis of prior holdings in similar cases (common law). The rule or legal principle may be expressly stated in the opinion or it may be implied.

Note: Some professors may use the words “holding” and “rule” differently than presented in this handout. The exact words used are not important, but when discussing judicial opinions it is important to distinguish between the court’s holding in the specific case it decided and the legal rule or principle that can be deduced from the court’s reasoning in that case.

7.Reasoning: This is the court’s ana lysis of the issues and the heart of the case

brief. Reasoning is the way in which the court applied the rules/ legal

principles to the particular facts in the case to reach its decision. This

includes application of rules as well as policy arguments the court uses to justify its holding.

8. Concurring/Dissenting Opinions: A judge who hears a case may not agree

with the majority’s decision and will write a separate dissenting opinion.

Another judge may agree with the decision but for different reasons and will write a separate concurring opinion. Note the concurring/dissenting

judge(s)’ reasons for refusing to join in the majority opinion.

9. Additional Comments/Personal Impressions: What are your reactions to and

critique of the opinion? Anything you like? Dislike? How does this case fall in line with the other cases you have read? Do not accept the court’s opinion blindly. Is the reasoning sound? Is it contradictory? What are the political, economic or social implications of this decision?