Law School Case Briefs
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Why it is so hard to do a Law School Case Brief?
Doing their class case briefs gives first year law student’s the most anxiety. We understand why:
(1) Most law students think that the professors are there to actually teach them the law. That is a big mistake. (See our Planet Law School section for details on what professors actually do in class),
(2) Law students who do case briefs from casebooks actually think that each case stands for what it is used in law school,
(3) Virtually all law students, and most lawyers can’t read,
(4) Virtually all law students and most lawyers and professors can’t write and can’t use the written word to properly express themselves and
(5) Law students think they will be embarrassed if they don’t get the right answer in class when they do a case brief.
There are no right answers in a case brief. There is only good legal analysis.
Our first bit of advice is to case brief the entire case and get the original version of the case and don’t bother to case brief the edited version of the case in the casebook. Almost all the cases in every casebook are edited versions of the cases. This is extremely bad in that once a principle of law is introduced to you, you will for the most part never see that principle used again in other cases in the casebook. It is really hard to learn something you have seen just once or twice.
We will say it again in case you missed it the first time. We are all for doing case briefs of cases but not necessarily the cases in the casebook. Do a brief of the entire case and all the issues and all the concurrences and dissents. If you brief the entire case you will see a large number of issues over and over and over again and you can easily learn the law after you read about a case or an issue 10-20-30 times. By that time you will absolutely know what it stands for and how to apply the law from that case or the legal issues presented.
Go to the Legal Research section on this site and it will give you detailed instructions on how to get the entire version of every case you must case brief. On a side note you will be shocked at what is left out of many casebooks and how your view of the law will change when you see the whole case and not just the casebook edition. You must case brief the entire case.
Fundamentals of Good a Case Brief
Doing a good brief is really simple and easy. Many so called authors and experts in this field will have you believe that there are different levels and styles and one level or style is better than the other. Don’t believe it for a nanosecond. When you do a case brief use this format:
Title of the Case
Citation
CASE: A short description about the case such as: This was an appeal from a summary judgment in favor of the defendant in an action to determine if in fact the plaintiff had either assigned his lease without written permission of the defendant or in fact entered into subleases. Sometimes it is best to identify the parties as P for plaintiff and D for defendant herein.
FACTS: A short detailed summary of the important facts that are necessary for the ruling in the case or are part of the prima facie case law needed to rule on the case. If you didn’t identify the parties as P for plaintiff and D for defendant in the case section do it here and any other plaintiffs as P1, P2, etc. or D1, D2, etc, for defendants.
ISSUE: State a question of law in the case in such a way that it can be answered yes or no.
RULE OF LAW: State the rule of law in the case by simply restating the issue and answering the question it begs.
HOLDING AND DECISION: (State the Judge’s name here).
(1) List all the law that the court discusses or gives to build its ruling upon. Almost always the court will give the rules of law that are fundamental to the case in the first part of each decision it makes. State all that law in the first part of your holding.
(2) State the legal analysis the court uses to make its decision.
(3) Repeat steps 1-2 for each separate holding the court makes in the case; this may occur a large number of times as many cases have multiple rules of law.
(4) Tell the final status of the case as to whether it was reversed, affirmed, remanded etc.
(5) Repeat steps 1-3 for each dissent, or concurrence and label them Concurrence: Dissent: (State the Judge’s name here) and then add the 1-3 verbiage for each.
LEGAL ANALYSIS: If you know anything about the law, which you don’t, state something relevant about the law. But here are some helpful hints as to what should go in a legal analysis for a case brief. How did the court construe facts and legal principles to come to its conclusions? What theories did it discuss and which theories did it accept as controlling in this case and why? Did the court leave legal questions or issues unresolved? Is the court so confused and out of it that it didn’t solve any issues other than the factual issue presented and it had enormous difficulty trying to theorize what it did so that others could make future use of the decision? If you have a dictionary always identify and include their definitions in your case brief particularly Latin words used. How does this case relate to other cases in the same general area of law and what does this case show about judicial policy making? Is the case and its result just or fair from a gut level reaction. Could the judge have done a better job? Compare this case and its results to other cases in the same area of law in the casebook.
Why you must do Case Briefs
Doing a case brief helps you understand the case and organize it in a manner so it makes sense. The case brief process helps you learn the application of the law. The more you do case briefs the more law you will know how to apply. That is a really great reason to brief the entire case and not just the one in the casebook. Also briefing minority opinions almost always gives you a counterargument that you can write on your exams so you will always cover both sides of an issue.
Using a Case brief for Exam Studying.
With all that being said, never use your case brief to study for exams. A case brief is not made to study for exams but is made to help you learn the application of the law. It is important that you take what you learn from the brief and make sure that it finds its way into your outline immediately after class. Remember one other fact, when you brief there will be rules of law in your briefs, either be extremely familiar with them or memorize them if they are part of your outline and considered prima facie case law. If you have a good law outline, this final process will not be too difficult for you to figure out. Read the law outline section to find out what we are talking about.
Doing a Case Brief by Book Briefing
Book briefing with a highlighter is a big mistake as it destroys the casebook making it impossible to resell back to the bookstore. If you do this do it in pencil. Also if you are book briefing you are not doing a case brief of the entire case. That is a big mistake.
Using a Canned Case Brief
If you are taking the time to read the entire case you will need to save some time. We highly recommend getting canned case briefs. The best quality briefs that we have found are at www.casebriefsco.com
You can read through this site to find out what we think about all of them. Never never use a free brief taken off a website. That is more akin to the blind leading the blind. They are poorly written and many times reflect the strange and radical opinions of ultra left wing law professors.
If you use a canned brief product such as casebriefsco.com you must use it for the efficiency of what it offers. It will save you literally hundreds of hours of time each semester. BUT YOU MUST STILL READ THE ENTIRE CASE AND FIGURE OUT WHAT IS GOING ON. Then read the canned case brief and add or subtract and create your own work product.
Doing a Case Brief is not a substitute for Memorizing the Law.
Do not think for a second because you have a good case brief that you will do well on an exam. If you understand the case that does not mean you can recall its use in a prima facie case on a law school exam. Law school exam writing requires Memorization, Application and Dissertation. Doing a great brief only gives you one of the three; Application. We see time and time again students who really understand the law dead cold and yet do poor on exams because they missed the issues because they did not memorize the law. For more information click here Bar Exam Secrets