Using the case brief example and template provided in Appendix A. of the text, please submit a complete case brief with all 5 sections for any case noted in the chapters of the text covered by Unit 2 in the syllabus.
HOW TO BRIEF A CASE
Briefing cases is a tedious experience. It requires one to read case law very carefully, often more than once. It also requires the reader to analyze the case, making judgment calls in choosing the portions that are relevant for the reader’s needs. Finally, it requires the reader to turn those judgment calls into a coherent, summary form that expresses the essence of the judge’s opinion. This is exactly why case briefing is so important.
The case brief should consist of six (6) elements: complete Case Citation, Facts, Issue, Decision, Reason, and somewhere in the “Reason” section should be a clear identification of the rule of law (e.g. the statute or regulation, etc.) and how the court applied it to the legal issue. The following discussion explains how each of these parts of the brief should be drafted, and please be sure to upload your case brief using the Assignments link. Email submissions of graded requirements are not permitted. If you are unsure of how to use the Assignments feature, please review the Blackboard tutorial as soon as you can, and you should be all set there.
CITATION:
A good case brief starts with identifying who the parties are in the case – the plaintiff and the defendant – and also providing a complete case citation, e.g. where the court opinion was published including the year, etc. Standard Blue Book citation format, as illustrated in the text, is expected and you can also research appropriate case citation formats on the Internet.
FACTS:
The content of a good case brief begins with its Facts section, but in order to be “brief,” a Facts section should only include the key facts. As a rule of thumb, key facts are those whose existence not only place the case in a context, but also help to shape the case’s outcome. How is that determined? It is done through careful reading. As you examine the facts from a case in order to brief it, ask yourself if the court could have reached its decision without the fact being in existence. If not, that usually indicates a key fact that should be in your brief.
THE ISSUE:
The Issue is the brain center of the case brief and the hardest part of a brief to grasp. A good issue asks a legal question, not an “outcome” question. An issue is about what the court has to grapple with in the appeal, not about who wins or loses. A good issue also incorporates some of the key facts into its wording. You know you have written a good issue when it stands on its own – when it, by itself, would allow a reader who has not read the case to still get an understanding of it. Write your issue in the form of a question. Begin with the word, “Whether.” Do not be alarmed if your issue reads differently from someone else’s since Issues can convey the same legal question but be expressed in different ways.
DECISION:
For a case brief, the holding should simply answer the question presented in the Issue in as short a method as possible. On a formal level, however, a Holding is the pronouncement of law issued by the court’s majority opinion; it is the precedent. The Holding in a case brief, however, should just answer the Issue.
THE REASONING:
The Reasoning section is the heart of the brief. A good reasoning section tells the reader why the court did what it did or how it reached its conclusion. Since appellate courts most often reach their conclusions through relying on case law, then a question is often raised concerning whether a reasoning section should include case citations. It generally should not, since citations by themselves, explain nothing. Instead of citations, a Reasoning section should give the principles from the precedent cited in the case. Sometimes courts use prominent legal doctrines, commonly called black letter law, as the foundation on which the reasoning is built. A court’s reasoning is often in the latter part of the opinion and usually makes reference to the facts in the earlier part of the opinion. Likewise, your Reasoning section should revisit integral facts in order to summarize the court’s analysis, and critical to that process is clearly identifying the rule of law that the court applied to the legal issue.
Kauffman, Kent D. (2004) Legal Ethics. Clifton Park, NY: Delmar Learning.
The case study is on
ENTERGY CORP. V. RIVERKEEPER, INC.