Business Law

CRAIG SCHOOL OF BUSINESS

Department of Finance and Business Law

BA 18 - Business and the Legal Environment

Professor Michael T. Yonker

THIRD WRITING ASSIGNMENT (CASE BRIEF)

In Module 2, we discussed torts. We will now build on that topic in the context of agency in our

current module.

Accompanying this memorandum is Helen Palsgraf v. The Long Island Rail Road Company, an

important case in tort law.

For this writing assignment, each student should submit a brief of the Palsgraf case, following

the model below.

The brief is due on November 25, by 11:59 pm. It must be submitted via TurnItIn on Canvas. It

is worth 25 points depending on quality and analysis. There is no page recommendation for this

assignment. However, I expect that all sections in the model below will be answered completely

but succinctly. It must be double space, with twelve-point Times New Roman font.

MODEL

Facts

Explain the circumstances which brought the parties to court. Include only the facts relevant to

this issue. State the significant facts necessary to present an adequate explanation without

introducing information that is not pertinent or that might confuse the reader.

Issue

State the issue presented to the court in one sentence. If possible, state the question in a for that

could be answered “yes” or “no.”

Holding

State how the court decided the issue by answering the question “yes” or “no”, or some other

appropriate response to the question. You may add explanation if you wish, but it is not

necessary.

Reasoning

In your own words, explain how the court came to the conclusion that it did. You may quote

from the decision, but the analysis should be your own. If you quote from the decision, indicate

the page from which the quote is taken. Note that no new facts should be introduced in this

section. All facts used by the court to reach its decision should be stated in the “facts” section.

Summary of Dissenting Opinion

A dissenting opinion is written by judges on an appellate panel who do not agree with the

decision of the majority of the judges on the panel. Not all cases include dissenting opinions.

Palsgraf, however, does. In your own words, explain how the dissent disagrees with the

majority, and what rule the dissenting judges would have made.