Case Briefing Tips
Use your own words • Simplify • Use professor's format •
Create a template • Help yourself • Put procedure up front •
Only relevant facts • Hone in on the issue • Differentiate rule from holding
Practicing the following skills on your case briefs will ultimately pay off on finals. How? (1) Practice in simple, effective writing will spill over into your exam answers. (2) Correctly identifying and following legal analysis while case briefing will sharpen the skills you need for writing effective exam answers.
Write everything in your own words.
If you are quoting the court’s wording, you’re not assimilating the material. Put everything in your own words.
Simplify, shorten.
Keep your brief short and to the point. Doing so helps you hone in on the issue, the relevant facts, and the court’s reasoning.
Create your own shortcuts for words and phrases you use repeatedly. Never write out “Plaintiff” when “P” will do, or “Supreme Court of the United States” when “US SC” will do. Identify the court and year but don’t bother writing the case citation.
Use a briefing format suggested by your professor’s questions.
Tailor your briefing format to each subject. If your property professor always talks about policy rationales, have a policy section in your property briefs. If your torts professor always asks you the source, scope, and beneficiary of the duty, your torts brief should include these headings.
Create and use a briefing template.
Whether you brief cases on the computer or by hand, create and use a template for each subject. This will not only save you time but always prompt you for the material you’ve already identified as important for each subject.
Help yourself out.
Add to your brief whatever will help you quickly identify and use the case. This could be a quick sketch, a word or phrase identifying the case (“napkin contract”), the heading the case comes under in the casebook’s table of contents, or the page number where the case is printed in the casebook.
Put the entire procedure up front.
Put the court’s disposition of the case in your initial procedure paragraph. Doing this helps avoid the common mistake of writing the disposition (e.g., “affirmed”) in the Conclusion/Holding section, instead of the holding (e.g., “Employee did not have a property interest in a promotion because subjective expectations are not protectable property interest.”)
Write down only the relevant facts.
Write down only the facts the court used in coming to its decision plus any necessary background to understand these facts.
Identify the issue correctly.
Remember, the issue asks how the rule applies to the relevant facts. The statement of the issue should reference both the relevant rule of law and the relevant facts.
Differentiate the pre-existing rule of law from the conclusion/holding.
How do you differentiate between “the rule” and “the holding”? Try these approaches:
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Say to yourself “pre-existing rule” instead of “rule” and “conclusion/holding” instead of “holding”.
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The rule is where the court begins its analysis; the holding is where it stops.
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The rule is broad and general and could apply to a number of cases. The holding is specific to the facts of this case.
Consider the following. Which is the pre-existing rule and which is the holding?
(a) Woman’s angry statement made ten minutes after fight with boyfriend after she walked to police station not excited utterance exception to hearsay rule b/c long explanation, not sudden reaction, & she had time to reflect/ cool down btwn fight and statement.
(b) To fall under excited utterance exception to hearsay rule, declarant’s out-of-court statement must be spontaneous reaction to startling event w/ no chance/ability for reflection.
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