Learning to Brief cases for class

[jeffjoe]

This is a question from an accepted-expecting-to-start-in-the-fall person.

I've read Law School Confidential and some other discussions of law school and they talk a lot about briefing cases.

That made me think that it might make sense for me to learn and practice briefing cases over the summer.

Wudya think?

Thanks.

[buggirl92002]

The "cliche" method for briefing is called "IRAC" (i.e. Issue, Rule, Analysis, Conclusion). Most people typically include in the beginning a section for the Facts of the case (what happened), the Procedural History (how it got to the present court - e.g. is it on appeal from a lower court decision?), and after the Conclusion, perhaps a section entitled "Held" that briefly notes the present court's decision (e.g. remanded, affirmed, etc.) and finally a Reasoning section explaining why the court decided the case the way it did. The Reasoning is typically included in the Analysis section so some people leave this out. The "Rule" you will look for is normally couched in a reference to a previous case (or several), which serves as precedent for the court's decision as it applies the rule to the present facts. I hope this helps!

[jeffjoe]

I have the basic idea.  I wonder if it is worth some time before law school to develop the skill.

[buggirl92002]

You'll certainly have ample opportunity once you get there! If you're enthusiastic, give it a try. It takes a while to really get the hang of what you're looking at when reading opinions. If you're going to attempt a few briefs, I recomend using a case book, where the opinions are typically truncated, rather than attempting an entire opinion. The short case-book cases are easier to evaluate for a specific point than full-length opinions, which often address several issues. Good luck!

[lawschoolafterdark]

JoeJeff,

I would suggest that you not go overboard.  You will get your fill by Christmas.  If you are going to do it here is an approach that I think will be let you know if your getting the point.

Get a casebook, preferably one that you will be using in the fall anyway, and the corresponding High Court Summaries study aid.  Read the case, breif it, and compare your brief to the High Court Summary Brief. Try to get the brief down before looking at the HCS.  They can easily become a crutch.  I had classmates in Torts who read the High Courts exclusively.

High Court Summaries have a great format.  they are just canned briefs with no outline or lengthy explanations.  Not to mention the fact that they have cartoons with each brief.  Something tells my that the cartoons will work for you. 

[jeffjoe]

Cartoons, yeah!

[vyper80]

All I did before I came to law school was figure out what method I *might* use.  I use a more hybrid type, but I did go off of what was in Law School Confidential (a good read for anyone!).  As noted in an earlier post, you'll have plenty of time to get your feet wet with it in law school.  Don't sweat it over the summer! 

If you have any specific ?s, feel free to email me.  I don't check the boards much.

distefa4@yahoo.com

[lawschoolafterdark]

Here is a good free resource from westlaw.

http://lawschool.westlaw.com/studentcenter/firstyear.asp



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