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H ow to B r ief a C ase

P r epa r ed for the L egal Studies P rogr am A me r ican P ublic U nive rsity System

D ecembe r 2013

I ntrodu ction : A case brief is a concise summary of the significance of a case. It is a bit like but with very special rules! It is a time-honored practice used throughout the legal profession and law schools. As a teaching tool, the case brief forces the student to identify and provide a written description of the most important aspects of a case. Legal precedent, also known as Stare D ecisis, is a doctrine which governs much of our legal process.

and the rationale underlying it ---- that is, how the judges arrived at their decision ---- is essential to the study of law. The case brief serves as a very useful vehicle by means of which to analyze and understand judicial decisions.

A case brie

aspects of a case. A case brief is not an invitation to re-write the opinion or to paste together ed on your

understanding of the case. Of cour words can be useful, if used sparingly. A case brief should be concise; it should be no more than 1-2 pages. There are at least several different methods or models for writing the case brief; these are based on personal preferences. In the Legal Studies Program, however, the format described here will be used for all of the case briefs which you are required to write in your courses. By using this uniform format, you will gain familiarity with the case analysis and brief writing process.

opinion, rather than a mere summary. Therefore, the first step in the brief writing process is always to thoroughly read the entire case. This includes reading any concurring and dissenting opinions of members of the court. In this regard, be very sure that you are reading the entire opinion! In some internet based sources, the Syllabus (headnotes/summary) of the opinion is presented at one link, the majority opinion is presented at another link, etc. You need to read all portions of the opinion as all of them are relevant to your analysis of the case. For example, if there are strong dissenting opinions based on key legal points, this could predict what the court might decide in the future on similar issues.

1. C ase N ame and C itation: As a header on the first page of your brief, you should state

citation to the case. (See Bluebook resources in the APUS library for more information about Bluebook format.) It is essential that the reader of your case brief know who initiated the litigation and who appealed. For example, in the sample case brief of the D elahanty case (see accompanying materials), Thomas and Jean Delahanty are clearly identified as the plaintiffs (parties who initiated the litigation) and as appellants (parties who sought appellate review of the

 

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legal reporter in which the opinion is found, the volume and page on which the case appears, and the year in which the case was decided.

2. F acts: The Facts section is a short synopsis of the most important facts of the case.

on of the court. Your

facts which were analyzed by the court. Although other factual details might be interesting, only include them if they give the reader t include the nature of the lawsuit and the parties in the lawsuit. The goal in the Facts section is to

would understand the facts of the case. 3. Proc edu ral H istory: The Procedural History section is a summary of previous

proceedings between the parties from the time the case was initially filed to the present. This is important because most reported cases are appellate cases in which a previous decision was rendered in a trial court. It is essential that you understand how the case arrived in the court, the opinion of which you are briefing. Indeed, in many case brief assignments, you will brief an Opinion of the United States Supreme Court; in those instances, the case will likely have been in several different courts previously. that you understand that the losing party appeals to the next level of court. The D elahanty case is an example of a somewhat unusual case, but the unusual nature of the case is a good illustration of why the Procedural History of the case is so important. The civil lawsuit was filed by the Delahantys in federal court (United States District Court in the District of Columbia). Their case was dismissed and they appealed to the next level of federal court (the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit). That federal appellate court needed to obtain the view of the court in the applicable local jurisdiction (the District of Columbia) on a specific legal question. In order to obtain that view, the federal

about the opinion which was rendered by the local court, the District of Columbia Court of Appeals. 4. Issue(s): The issue should be a yes/no question which identifies the specific question the court must decide in order to rule in the case. distributors of Saturday Night Specials strictly liable for injuries arising from their criminal use

There may be more than one main issue that the court must decide. If there are multiple issues, the issues should be set forth in a number f etc. 5. H olding(s):The Holding section succinctly states how the court answered the issues presented. Typically it includes a yes/no answer followed by the issue presented written in an answer format. It includes the legal principle relied on by the court. If there are multiple issues, there must be a corresponding number of holdings.

 

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6. R easoning: This is a very important part of the brief. The Reasoning section describes why and how the court reached its holding in the case. This may include an application or revision of pre-existing legal principles, policy reasons and/or negative effects resulting from a different court ruling. If there are both a majority and dissenting opinion issued

analyses. Likewise, if there is a concurring opinion, a brief description should be included in an additional subsection. If there are multiple issues, there must be a corresponding number of sub- sections within the Reasoning section. 7. D ecision: This section gives the Judgment rendered by the court. Describe the final

it for additional proceedings? 8. C omments: Is there anything else that should be mentioned about this case? Is it a

in the sense that the court significantly changed the law concerned a particular

For example, in the D elahanty sample brief, a useful comment would be that the case is a good example of how appellate courts certify issues to other courts in order to obtain the legal opinion of the other court on a particular issue.