Legal Brief Blue Book Format

You may use single space in the various sections of the brief but be sure to double space between the sections.

Brief the case of Maryland v. Pringle, 540 U.S. 366 (2003). This case can be found at the following link http://supct.law.cornell.edu/supct/pdf/02-809P.ZO or under the "Resources" section of the classroom.

Legal case names should be done in standard “Blue Book” format. Example:
York v. Smith, 65 U.S. 294 (1995). For further information see http://www.law.cornell.edu/citation and look under the “How to Cite” section. Bluebook citation information is also found in the course materials section.

Please note that your brief should be, for the most part, in your own words. By briefing a case, you are reading the entire court opinion then summarizing it into your own words so that the important information from the brief is easier to understand and remember. If you are using language from a case, please be sure to put it in quotes and include the reference.

Case briefs are used to highlight the key information contained within a case for use within the legal community as court cases can be quite lengthy.

When writing case briefs, all information must be properly cited.  Make sure you are not copying and pasting from your source. Most of the material should be paraphrased; quotations should make up no more than 10%  of the brief.  Note: since the purpose to is highlight and summarize key information, merely copying and pasting from the case does not accomplish this goal. You must summarize the facts in your own words, using quotations sparingly.

*** Please review the materials in the Resources section of the classroom under the Case Brief folder. These will be useful to you because they instruct ("How to..") students about the case briefing process, shows the relationship between the Opinion and the brief (Opinion and Model Case Brief), and then enables you to see the relationship between the case brief and the grading process (Rubric).