Brifing Case

Briefing a Case [1]

A case brief is an organized summary of the important elements of a case. It should be prepared in the reader’s own words (and not simply copied from the case) and it should be concise (usually no longer than one page) and easy to read (you can use bullet points and phrases rather than complete sentences).

Most briefs include the following elements:

1. Basic information about the case

a. Party names and their role in the litigation

b. Court issuing opinion

c. Date (year) of opinion

2. Material facts

a. Facts that gave rise to the litigation- the “story”

b. Facts that the court relied on in reaching its decision

3. Procedural history/procedural posture

a. What happened in earlier proceedings involving this litigation

b. How did parties get to where the case is now?

c. Include lower courts´ disposition of the case, if any

4. Legal issue(s)

a. Legal question(s) presented to the court for resolution

b. Incorporate key facts

c. Number each issue separately if there are multiple legal issues

5. Holding

a. Resolution of the legal issue(s) presented

b. Holding can be stated narrowly or more broadly. The scope of the holding of a case often is not known until subsequent cases interpret and apply the earlier case

c. The holding will reflect a rule, which is a general principle to be applied in future cases

6. Rationale

a. Explanation of court’s holding to each issue

b. What the court said in explaining each of its holdings

c. How and why did the court reach the decision it did?

7. Other opinions

a. Reflect minority concurring or dissenting opinions

8. Comments

a. Reader’s own observations about the case

b. Reader’s understanding of how the case relates to other cases on related issues

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[1] Extracted from Toni M....