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Case Law and Case Briefing: An Introduction

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Case law is an integral part of the common law heritage. 

People have legal disputes because they cannot agree on:

  • the rule of law to be applied
  • the standard or test for an element
  • the facts
 

Trial courts resolve disputes over facts:

  • who did 
  • what to 
  • whom
  • where and
  • when
 

Appellate courts resolve disputes over: 

  • the rule of law to be applied
  • the standard or test for an element of a rule
 

Appellate cases report the resolution of the legal dispute.

 

Most law school courses focus on:

  • Appellate cases
 

Cases are seen as the basic method of determining 

  • Rules, Elements, Standards and Tests 
  • Reasoning

A Case brief is a student's summary of a case. 
 
As a student you should brief cases for several reasons: 
  
Active Learning Learning by doing is better than passive learning by merely reading. 
 
Class Participation Without a short summary a student may find it difficult to remember the facts and issues of a case. 
 
A Tool for Constructing a Study Outline Briefing provides some help in isolating rules, tests, and standards for course outline. 
 
Exam Preparation Briefing provides practice in isolating the relevant facts from irrelevant facts and practice framing an issue statement.

Two basic kind of briefs: book brief and page brief 

bulletpage brief = 1 to 2 page summary
bulletbook brief = notes in margin of the book
  • Learning to read cases critically is an important legal skill and book brief is not sufficient in the beginning.
 
 
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