How to briefcase. I guess the first
question is what is a case brief? We actually use the word "brief" a couple of
different ways in law. One way is the case brief and that's what we're going
to be talking about here. The other instance of using the word brief is
referring to an appellate brief that attorneys will prepare for a case on
appeal. A very lengthy document or it might be a brief of authority that the
attorneys would prepare in support of a motion that they're going to argue in
front of the court. But here we're talking about the case brief. It's a
brief that is prepared typically by law students, paralegal students, other people
studying the law. And I suppose it might have some application in the law office
where a lawyer might tell someone one of the staff go brief this case for me. So
in that context we're talking about a case brief. So what is a case brief? It's
a summary of the most important points in a court decision, a particular court
decision. Usually that's going to be an appellate court decision and we call it
a brief because it is. It's brief. Typically a page or less. Now why do we
brief cases? Why will we brief a case? Well, to understand how the principle
of law that that case is all about how it's being applied to a particular set
of facts. Try to understand what the case stands for in law school we use this as a teaching method and it does have a very practical application
that to understand what that case is all about. The first part of a brief a case
brief is going to be setting out the facts, the important facts. You have to
distinguish what facts really have some sort of application or bearing on the
court's decision that the issue that's going to be in front of
the court. And we'll talk about issue in just a moment.
But in the case brief we disregard all facts that really don't have any
bearing on what the case is all about. And we also have to recognize that the
facts that we are dealing with in the court decision that we are briefing in
that court opinion those facts were developed at the trial court so the
appellate court is saying well these are the facts that are in front of us. And
appellate courts don't refight the battle on facts. They only deal
with questions of law, so keep that in mind as we go through this. Now the next
part of the case brief is going to be the procedural history.
What court issued this opinion that we're reading that we're briefing? How
did the case get to that court? You know did it come up from the trial court on
appeal? Did it come from a another appellate court? Now this procedural
history is typically not an important part of the case brief unless the case
turns on something that happened in that procedural history, and in fact some some
instructors some teachers will even say it's not necessary for our purposes
to prepare or include the procedural history. But some do. Okay, the issue.
This is what's really the difference between lawyers and laypeople here,
whether you can spot the issue and articulate the issue in a question. Now
fortunately for the students and people who read these cases the courts
typically are very helpful in helping us understand what the issue is because
they'll start with the word identify it for us. "The issue before us
today is whether" so you want to look for that word "whether" as you read the
court opinion, but then, and so frequently the court will state that
that legal issue in a question. So it's the question that's presented to the
trial court the question that the court is going to be struggling, the
question that the court is going to have to decide and it's a legal
question, it's a legal issue. Not a fact issue. We've already dealt with the fact
issues at the trial court so we're stating what is the legal issue, what is
the issue over the interpretation of the rules that's going to decide this case. And
of course the answer to that question will determine who wins the case. Now, in
some briefs we might put the holding of the court. You might might see, wonder
what's the holding of the court and it's usually a very brief one or two-word
answer to this question and the answer is either yes or no. So a question would
be whether or not an accused a criminal, person accused of crime is
entitled to legal counsel at trial. Okay that was basically the the one of the
questions have in the Gideon versus Wainwright case. And the answer would be
yes or no, and in this case in that case the the court said yes they're entitled
to assistance of counsel at trial. So that's just very brief. Now
some teachers, professors, instructors say just work the holding
into the rule. They're really referring to the IRAC method, the facts, the
issue, the rule. And then the other two letters we'll look at in just a
moment. But the rule, what is the rule? That's the next section. Well that's the
rule of law that the court used to decide the case, and there may be more than
one rule that's involved. It depends on how complicated the case may be,
how many issues may be involved. There may be a couple different rules that
they have to consider depending on what the facts are and so that's why it's
important to include in your brief at the very front what the important facts
are. See, everything ties together. And the court will discuss these rules, and as
they discuss the rules that will help you in the next section of our brief. And
that next section is the application. Sometimes it may be called the analysis
or the reasoning of the court. And this is frequently viewed as the
most important part of the case brief because we are explaining or looking at
why the court ruled the way it did. We are taking the facts that we set out
earlier in the brief, we're taking the rule that the court used and applied in
the earlier part of the brief, and now we're explaining why they did that. And
the court often, courts frequently will state what each party contends. Appellant
contends this. Appelle contends that. And then frequently the court will say
what they find sound or not sound about those conflicting arguments, so
that will help you understand and be able to identify how the court is
applying the rule to the facts. And that's what this section is about. And
then of course the last section of the case brief is the conclusion, and it's
basically a short statement saying that the court affirmed or the court
reversed the case and held for the appellant, appellee, plaintiff, defendant,
however the parties are being designated. So it essentially is saying who won and
lost. And so by using this case brief we can have a better understanding of the
principles of law that we are studying.