How to Write a Case Brief (With Examples)

6 min read

Performance on the final exam is key to most law school students. This is because your overall grade is determined by how you perform on the final exam. Case briefs are an essential tool for law school students. Have you ever thought of what it takes to write an excellent case brief? Now am here to let you know if you want to craft a good case brief, you need the skills to analyze the most important details. It can be intimidating to shorten long cases into one or two pages only. With these tips and brief templates, without a doubt, you will come up with a well-written case brief.

Before writing down a case brief, you must read through the case and ensure that you get a deeper understanding. Get the bigger picture of the case and focus on the most relevant aspects of the case. As you read through your case, think of how you would phrase some sections using your own words. Be brief for yourself; briefs help you recognize the decisions from legal reasoning and important aspects of the case.

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What is a Case Brief?

A case brief is a written summary and analysis of a court opinion that outlines the history, issues, facts, reasoning, and outcome of a particular case. The term case brief is sometimes confusing since, ordinarily, the word brief refers to the write-up of an argument submitted to the court. In a real sense, a case brief is not an argument and, at any point, not submitted to the court.

What is a Case Brief for?

A Case brief for the class, such as a case brief, helps prepare for the class studies. This is why most of the law students consider coming up with a sample case. Making notes and paraphrasing will also help you as a student to understand the process of whatever case briefing you are reading.

Case brief for legal writing and research

Apart from utilizing it in a class setup, you may make a brief that will help you get all the essential aspects and information for writing and research purposes. Briefing cases aids in the identification of the most crucial information, which will help you complete any legal writing analysis and case arguments.

Case brief for outlining

Case briefs are significant as they are responsible for the building of the foundation leading to more advanced studies. Through massive reading and analysis and the creation of beliefs, you will know how to put together the vital information and come with a deeper understanding of the laws.

Other uses of a case brief

  • Case briefing equips you with the skills of case analysis and legal reasoning. 
  • Identification of essential components of the case thus making it easier to analyze the information
  • Outline the rules and legal principles established in a case. 
  • Case briefing is a useful study tool since it enhances your memory. It makes you remember the cases you have ever read.

Component of a Case Brief

Case name and citation: It identifies the parties involved in the case.

Facts: It refers to the story of the turn of events in the case. It contains an overview of the case’s key facts such as relevant people, locations, and involved objects, and actions. Do not forget to add the titles of the people you are writing about.

Procedural Posture: After bringing the case to trial and appealing it, which courts are already aware of the case? This section contains all the procedural events starting from the trial hearing up to the current decision. The procedural history should include the first level trial decision, the decision before the trial, and lastly, the current status of the case under review.

Issue: It outlines the critical legal questions that the court asked to be decided on. These legal issues should be summarized, outline legal questions, and present in a question form to be responded in a ‘’yes or no’’ format. 

Decision: The rule that the court of appeal rules will be used to decide based on the facts of the case. This section responds to the questions outlined that were outlined in the previous section, that is, the Issue section.

Ratio: This is the majority rule and legal principle that the court’s decision stands for.The ratio explains the essential aspects of a case from a legal perspective and how it might affect society at large.

Reasoning: This is the court’s process to select the rule and apply the rule to the facts of this case.It explains how the court came to its decision and the legal it followed.

Result: This is the final move of the court.

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Free Case Brief Templates & Examples

Writing a case brief is a pleasant and engaging activity, but sometimes it can be tiresome and time-consuming. If you need any help, worry no more, we provide professionally designed templates for writing a case brief. Don’t hesitate to download our free guide from our website.

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    How Long Should be a Case Brief?

    As it goes by the name, a case brief should not be too long. You need to be careful that you integrate all the aspects of the case brief. Ensure that you include the operative facts of the case. When putting down the reasoning and holding section, it is wise to exclude those portions of the opinion that don’t relate to the casebook topic. We advise that you should not write more than 600 words, exclusive of dissents and concurrences.

    Mistakes to Avoid When Writing a Case

    Making mistakes when writing a legal document is one of the most disastrous things. When writing any legal document, be keen, and avoid common mistakes. Read through and learn some of the mistakes that you should avoid when writing a case brief. Below are some of the common mistakes.

    Using a passive tone

    Use an active voice to avoid confusion and create a more substantial impact on the legal document. It also emphasizes that you are using your own words, and you are writing based on your own experience.

    Lengthy content

    When writing a brief, avoid writing everything. You only need to put down the essential details. Readers are easily put off by lengthy content, and that why they may choose to skim through the document. Too long content is unnecessary; include the relevant information, then present a brief and straightforward case.

    Use of ambiguous pronouns

    These pronouns may bring confusion since they refer to more than one person in the same sentence2. Readers get confused because they do not know the exact person been referred to in the context. To avoid misinterpreting, use pronouns that refer to one person.

    Using verbs as nouns

    Verbs and Nouns should not be interchanged when writing a case brief. This can also be referred to a normalization. Avoid such mistakes and improve your brief writing skills.

    Too much use of legalese

    Legalese is the technical vocabulary used when writing legal documents. Too much of such technical jargon makes the document difficult to understand, rendering it redundant and ineffective.

    Not Proofreading your work

    This is the crucial thing that should not be ignored when coming up with any legal document. When writing the case brief, sometimes you may find yourself ignoring small mistakes such as spelling and grammar. Make it your routine to always proofread your work after you are done writing.

    Tips on How to Write a Good Case Brief

    1. Gather all the facts, then create a clear outline for all of them. These facts are then the essential aspect of the case brief.
    2. Keep track of all the events that have happened from the start in the cast up to now. These events include dates of healing, motions, court rulings, verdicts, procedures, and judgments. This will help you get a better understanding of the case at large.
    3. Combine all the issues in the case and present them in a question form to be responded to by either yes or no.
    4. Don’t be in a hurry to be while writing logical reasoning. Clearly describe why the court gave the ruling it did.

    Final Thoughts

    Make sure you read through the case at least twice before you brief it. Finding the judge’s best-empurpled prose doesn’t mean that you have deeply understood the reason for the decision.

    As you read through a sample or template of a case brief, you will realize that it is not a legal document but rather a paraphrased one. So, in this case, when you are making a summary of the case, please use your own words. 

    Look through distortions of the precedent and manipulation of the factual record. You need to ask some of the following questions: How does this case relate to other cases within the general law area? What does this case show about policy making by the judicial body? Do you think that the result is unfair, or does it violate your sense of justice? What would have been done to make a better decision?

    Case briefing being a long-used method use by law students, it has quipped them with analytical skills and enhanced a better understanding of the role of courts in the definition, interpretation, and application of laws. We hope that by following this guide, you will be able to draft an excellent case brief. Good luck!

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