UIVT1-T2_N_384

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Knowing the elements of a summary report that condenses a legal case.

Objective

References

Activities

Introduction

Conclusion

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Brief a case

Elements of a brief

Case brief template

Table of content

Reading cases is familiar to you, but you have to learn how to extract the most important elements of a case. Are you ready to learn about summarizing legal information? Presenting a case in summary will allow you to develop your capacity for understanding, analysis and synthesis, by clearly and concisely identifying the fundamental aspects, the legal problem to be resolved, the applicable standards and the key arguments. This not only facilitates understanding of the case as a whole, but also helps develop critical and argumentative skills necessary in legal practice.

Introduction

A case brief is a summary of the main points of the decision. Case briefing helps you acquire the skills of case analysis and legal reasoning. Briefing a case helps you understand it. Case briefing aids your memory. Briefs help you remember the cases you read.

A brief is a written statement prepared by a lawyer and submitted to the court that outlines the pertinent facts of the case, the questions of law to be decided, the position of the lawyer’s client as to those questions and the legal arguments and authorities.

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Brief a case

Also, there are some elements that you may want to consider including in addition to the four basic elements:

Four elements are essential to any useful brief:

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According to Makdisi and Makdisi (2009) there are some elements to take into account when you are going to brief a case:

Elements of a brief

Remember that the purpose of a brief is to remind you of the important details that make the case significant in terms of the Law.

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Procedural History is usually minimal and most of the time irrelevant to the ultimate importance of a case; however, this is not always true. One subject in which Procedure History is virtually always relevant is Civil Procedure. When describing the Judgment of the case, distinguish it from the Holding. The Judgment is the factual determination by the court in favor of one party, such as “affirmed,” “reversed,” or “remanded.” In contrast, the Holding is the applied rule of law that serves as the basis for the ultimate judgment.

Elements of a brief

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Case brief template

JD Advising in its web page mentions a case brief template:

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Name of case

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Case brief template

Start by saying the name of the case at the top of your case brief, for example, Smith v. Jones.

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Parties

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Case brief template

Identify the parties. Who is the plaintiff? You might want to abbreviate the parties as “P” and “D.”

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Procedure

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Case brief template

Identify the procedural posture of the case. Are we at the trial or appellate level? State or federal court? At which stage in the litigation was the case when the issue arose?

Issue

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Case brief template

Identify the legal issue addressed by the opinion. This issue is the one that is resolved in the case and is the one that determines the outcome of the case. It is usually obvious and easy to locate as it is often mentioned in the case introduction or the opinion summary. JD Advising uses a very useful example to illustrate this point: if a case appears in a section on negligence in tort law, it is likely that the main issue is negligence. This is because negligence is a key element of tort law. If the court also mentions causation or damages, it is possible that these issues are also relevant to the case, but the main issue will still be negligence

Facts

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Case brief template

Briefly summarize the relevant facts of the case, which are necessary to understand the legal issue being resolved in the case. These facts are often also mentioned in the case introduction or the opinion summary. It is important to focus on the legally significant facts, that is, those that have an impact on the court's decision. For example, in a tort case involving a car accident, the relevant facts could include the identities of the drivers, the speed of the vehicles, the road conditions, and the cause of the accident. It is not necessary to include all the facts mentioned in the opinion, as some of them may be irrelevant to the legal issue. However, it is important to include the facts that help to understand what happened.

Rule

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Case brief template

Identify the legal standard that the court applied. To do this, it is important to consider the context of the case. If the court is applying a well-established standard, such as the reasonable person standard, then the legal standard will be relatively easy to identify. However, if the court is creating a new one, then it may be more difficult to identify the legal standard. In the case of a new standard, the court may be deciding a question of first impression, that is, a case that has no precedent. In this case, the court will have to create a new standard to resolve the case. For example, the court could decide that an individual should be considered negligent simply for violating a law, regardless of whether that violation was reasonable. In other cases, the court may be applying a well-established standard to a novel factual scenario. In this case, the mere application of the standard to that novel factual scenario can actually create a new standard. For example, the court could apply the reasonable person standard to a case involving autonomous driving. In this case, the reasonable person standard might have to be interpreted differently to take into account the limitations of autonomous vehicles.

Analysis/application

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Case brief template

In this section, you should describe how the court reached its decision. Explain in detail whether the court applied an established rule or created one; what was the context; what were the facts; the justification for the decision; and, in short, the court's reasoning.

Holding

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Case brief template

This is the court's legal conclusion. JD Advising points out that "the conclusion can be considered the product of the legal standard and the analysis. Be careful not to confuse the conclusion with the court's judgment, which we will discuss later."

Judgment

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Case brief template

In this section, you should describe the resolution of the case, which is usually located at the end of the document. JD Advising suggests some questions to guide you: "Did the court grant or deny a motion? Did it affirm or reverse a decision of a lower court?"

Policy (optional)

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Case brief template

This description applies only if the court adopts a new rule or applies "an old rule to a new situation." Again, it will all depend on the case you are evaluating.

Dicta (optional)

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Case brief template

A dicta is a statement or conclusion that a court makes in an opinion, but that is not necessary to resolve the case. Dicta are often opinions or comments by the court on legal issues that are not relevant to the case at hand. Dicta can be important for several reasons. They can provide guidance on how the court would interpret a law or standard in other cases. They can also help to establish precedent for future cases. If you consider it relevant, you may also include information about the dicta.

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Dissent (optional)

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Case brief template

A dissent is an opinion or vote cast by a judge or justice who disagrees with the majority opinion of a court. Dissenting votes are important because they can provide an alternative view of a case and can help to shape the development of the law. Dissenting votes can be cast for a variety of reasons. A judge or justice may disagree with the majority opinion because they have a different interpretation of the law or the facts of the case. They may also disagree with the majority opinion because they believe that the majority decision is unfair or harmful. If your case includes a dissent, it is also important to consider it and note key segments.

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ACTIVITIES

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ACTIVITIES

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ACTIVITIES

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ACTIVITIES

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Evaluation.

Issues and Holdings.

Procedural history.

Facts.

Reasoning.

Identification of the case.

Remember that the purpose of a brief is to remind you of the important details that make the case significant in terms of the law. A brief should be brief. Overly long or cumbersome briefs are not very helpful because you will not be able to skim them easily when you review your notes. On the other hand, a brief that is too short will be equally unhelpful because it lacks sufficient information to refresh your memory.

To sum up, we can say that the elements of a case brief are:

Conclusion

Makdisi M. & Makdisi, J. (2009) How to write a case brief for law school: Excerpt reproduced from Introduction to the Study of Law: Cases and Materials, Third Edition. https://www.lexisnexis.com/en-us/lawschool/pre-law/how-to-brief-a-case.page JD Advising. (n.d.) What is an example of a law school case brief template? https://jdadvising.com/a-case-brief-template-a-sample-for-law-students/

References

Briefings por Heyra Vegas Escobar - UCAB, está bajo Licencia Creative Commons Atribución-NoComercial-CompartirIgual 4.0 Internacional.

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Dissent (if a valuable dissenting opinion exits, the dissent’s opinion).

Party’s arguments (each party’s opposing argument concerning the ultimate issue).

• Facts of the case (what actually happened, the controversy).

• Procedural History (what events within the court system led to the present case).

• Judgment (what the court actually decided).

In addition to these elements, it may help you to organize your thoughts, as some people do, by dividing facts into separate elements:

Issues (what is in dispute).

Dicta (commentary about the decision that was not the basis for the decision).

Rationale (reasons for the holding).

Comments (personal commentary).

Facts (name of the case and its parties, what happened factually and procedurally and the judgment).

Holding (the applied rule of law).