How to Break Down a Case Brief

How to Break Down a Case Brief

• 1). Look for the facts. When you start reading cases, you will find that most of them start off with the facts of the case. Make sure the facts are legally relevant. Do not waste time on extraneous information. Your facts section should include a short description of the nature of the case, a statement of relevant law, a summary of the complaint in a civil case or the indictment in a criminal case, and relevant evidence and arguments explaining who did what to whom and why those actions were against the law.
  
  
• 2). Find the procedural history next. The procedural history tells you what happened in the court proceedings. Any trial mentioned in the text would be a part of the procedural history. Summarize the actions taken by the lower courts. Such actions could be: Supreme Court granted certiorari; conviction upheld by appellate court; defendant convicted.
  
  
• 3). Spot the issue. Next you get to the question the court wants answered. That is the issue of the case. It may be in the form of a question, or it may use the word "whether" to convey that there is a decision to be made. There could also be more than one issue addressed in one case. Constitutional cases often address more than one issue. Find the issue, and phrase it in terms of a question that can be answered with a "yes" or "no."
  
  
• 4). Look for the rule and the reasoning. The next thing to look for is language from the judge or judges. The rule can be included in this section. The rule of law could be derived from a statute, case rule, regulation, or common law from prior case holdings. The judge will address the issue and give his reasoning on the issue. He may cite past cases in doing this. He will essentially be answering the question of "why" he is ruling the way he is. When looking for the reasoning you look at the way in which the court applied the rules or legal reasoning to the facts in this particular case.
  
  
• 5). The holding usually comes at the very end of the opinion. The holding is the judge's ultimate decision on the issue or issues. There could be a narrow procedural holding such as, "case reversed and remanded." There could be a broader holding dealing with interpreting the Constitution or other judicial doctrines. Or there could be simple "yes" or "no" type answer in response to the issue.