How to Brief a Legal Case

Valerie Lang Waldin, J.D., M.L.S.

What is a case brief?A case brief is a condensed, concise outline-form summary of a court

opinion. A law student’s case brief is very different from a legal brief by an

attorney, and an undergraduate student’s case brief will differ from a law student’s.

A community college student’s case brief will differ from an that of an undergraduate depending on the course of study.

This guide is intended primarily for community college students.

Basic Format for a Case Brief:• Generally, a case brief takes this form (we will address these individually):

• Facts• Issue• Holding or Ruling• Application of the law to the facts of the case (can also be called Rationale, or Reasoning)

• Bottom line: Follow your professor’s specific format instructions.

This brief format is a little more involved:

• EXAMPLE: Constitutional Law - Case Brief Format for Final Project

• Name of Case:• Citation:

• Prior Proceedings:• Facts:

• Issue(s):

• Decision (or Holding or Ruling) of Supreme Court:• Author of Majority Opinion:• Reasoning of Majority Opinion:• Summary of Other Opinions (dissenting, concurring):

Keep in mind:

United States Supreme Court cases are characteristically

lengthier and more detailed than state cases.

Example: Mapp v. Ohio, 81 S.Ct. 1684, 1961 is a pivotal case in which evidence seized by an unconstitutional search was

inadmissible (under the 4th and 14th Amendments).

THIS is why we brief cases.• Mapp v. Ohio (as shown on Cornell's Legal Information Institute site)

Let’s break it down piece by piece.

*Depending on your professor’s instructions…

2 ½ to 3 typed pages total (length approximations recommended below; will vary depending on case):

Facts 1 pageIssue 1 sentenceHolding or Ruling 1-2 sentencesApplication 1 – 1 ½ pages

FACTS

This is the text of of Mapp v. Ohio provided on the Cornell Legal

Information Institute site.

The FACTS of a legal case usually are stated in a few paragraphs at the

beginning of the judge’s opinion.

FACTS

ISSUE

ISSUE = What is the question the parties are asking the court to resolve?

Issue

End of facts (Facts of course may be referred to again in the opinion, but basically this is the end of the fact

pattern for purposes of your brief.)

The ISSUE is normally found after the fact

summary but before the court gets into legal

precedent and explaining its reasoning.

When writing the brief, you need to condense the issue into a manageable

legal question.

Here the court is starting to discuss prior court decisions (legal precedent), the Constitution, and applicable

statutes, paving the way for the HOLDING (decision) with its REASONING.

HOLDING

HOLDING (OR RULING OR DECISION) = What did the court decide?

(Affirmed, Reversed, Remanded?)

HoldingThe Holding (may also be called Ruling) is a statement of the court’s decision. It will appear at the end of the opinion.

We will come back to concurring and dissenting opinions; for now just know

that the Holding (Ruling) is stated at the end of the majority opinion, which is

the decision & reasoning of the majority of the judges of a court,

written by one judge.

Justice Clark wrote the majority opinion for the Court in Mapp v. Ohio.

APPLICATION

Application or Reasoning = Why did the court decide as it did?

APPLICATION of the law to the facts of the case

Critical part of case (APPLICATION, REASONING) as it applies the law to the facts of the case thereby setting legal precedent

Let’s go back to Westlaw for a second.

Headnotes

Headnotes are written by Westlaw attorney-editors.

Headnotes concisely state the points of law (or legal

concepts) in the case.

Invaluable!

“A headnote is a single sentence that reflects a point of law made by the court. Attorney-editors craft a headnote for every specific point of law covered in every published opinion, making it possible to quickly determine what the

case means and whether it is relevant.” http://blog.legalsolutions.thomsonreuters.com/legal-research/reference-attorney-tips/07-08-13

/

As indicated early on:

• A law student case brief is very different from a brief by an attorney, and an undergraduate student’s brief will differ from a law student’s.

• This guide to case law briefing is intended primarily for community college students.

So what does a finished

BRIEF look like?

Westlaw briefs are sophisticated legal briefs submitted by licensed attorneys practicing before the United States Supreme Court.

If you select “Brief It” when printing a case in Westlaw, you will only get the case

Headnotes! Headnotes are the legal points of law in the

case, but do not include sufficient facts, articulation of the issue, or detailed

application of the law to the facts of the case.

The Point:You need to write your own brief based on assignment instructions, and it should look

something like this:

Mapp v. Ohio 81 S.Ct.1684

• Facts: Three Cleveland police officers arrived at the petitioner’s residence on a tip that a bombing suspect was hiding out there and that paraphernalia regarding the bombing was hidden there. The officers knocked and asked to enter, but the petitioner refused to admit them without a search warrant after speaking with her attorney. The officers left and returned approximately three hours later with what seemed to be a search warrant. When the petitioner failed to answer the door, the officers forcibly entered the residence. The petitioner’s attorney arrived and was not permitted to see the petitioner or to enter the residence. The petitioner demanded to see the search warrant and when presented, she grabbed it and placed it in her shirt. Police struggled with the petitioner and eventually recovered the warrant. The petitioner was then placed under arrest for being belligerent and taken to her bedroom on the second floor of the residence. The officers then conducted a widespread search of the residence and found obscene materials in a trunk in the basement. The petitioner was ultimately convicted of possessing these materials. The petitioner/defendant was convicted in an Ohio Common Pleas Court and on appeal the Ohio Supreme Court affirmed the conviction. Petitioner/defendant appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court.

• Issue: Is evidence discovered during a search and seizure conducted in violation of the Fourth Amendment of the Constitution admissible in a state court?

Your NameCourseProfessor

Mapp v. Ohio81 S.Ct.1684• Held. In a 6-3 decision, the Court overturned the petitioner’s conviction, and held that the states

were bound to exclude evidence seized in violation of the 4th Amendment.

• Application. In the majority opinion, Justice Tom Clark wrote for the Court that all evidence obtained by searches and seizures in violation of the Constitution is inadmissible in a state court. Justice Clark went on to say, “ Were it otherwise…the assurance against unreasonable…searches and seizures would be meaningless.” The purpose of the exclusionary rule is to deter illegally obtaining evidence and to compel respect for the constitutional guarantee in the only effective manner. The Court thus ensured that in either state or federal court, no individual is to be convicted on unconstitutional evidence. The 4th Amendment sets the standards for searches and seizures by law enforcement officials in the United States, the Court noted, and the 14th Amendment requires judges to uphold those standards in every state. Evidence gained by an illegal search became inadmissible in state courts as a result of the Mapp decision. The Court developed the exclusionary rule for illegal evidence, and drew on the Weeks case, 1914, and Elkins, 1960, culminated with the decision reached in Mapp, 1961.

If your brief assignment is more

detailed……it’s really not that much more complicated.

EXAMPLE: Constitutional Law - Case Brief Format for Final Project

• Name of Case:• Citation:

• Prior Proceedings:• Facts:

• Issue(s):

• Decision (or Holding or Ruling) of Supreme Court:• Author of Majority Opinion:• Reasoning of Majority Opinion:• Summary of Other Opinions (dissenting, concurring):

Name of Case: Mapp v. Ohio

Citation: 392 U.S. 188 or S.Ct. 1868

Prior Proceedings: The petitioner/defendant was convicted in an Ohio Common Pleas Court and on appeal the Ohio Supreme Court affirmed the conviction (16 O.O.2d 384). Petitioner/defendant appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Citations are the volume number, reporter, and page number. These are

called parallel citations because they bring you to same case. It’s like a journal article

being published in multiple journals.

Lower court decision and law reviews (not the U.S. Supreme Court case)

Summary of Other Opinions

(dissenting, concurring):

Summary of Other Opinions

(dissenting, concurring):

Dissenting (disagreeing) opinions

are usually found after

the concurring (supporting)

opinion.

And that is case briefing in a nutshell.

Questions? Contact Valerie Lang Waldin, J.D., M.L.S. in the Marvin Library 141 or visit the HVCC Law Research Genius.