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Legal Writing Resources

This guide contains all of the ASC's legal writing resources.

Case Brief

Case Brief

What is case briefing and why do you need to master it?

  • The most basic purpose of a case brief is to succinctly summarize a case by distilling the facts, law, and reasoning in a useable format. In the aggregate, case briefs will make it easier for you to study for your exams at the end of the semester after you have read tons of cases. Done correctly, your outlines can also be useful later when you are studying for the bar exam. As such, do not discard your case briefs/outlines after you have completed a subject that is on the bar exam.

 

Case Name Subject of Case
Subject of Case

Helps with organizing your overall outline to make sure you are grouping cases focused on the same sub-areas of law together.

Procedural History and Case Disposition

Describe what happened leading up to the present case.

  • Who won in the trial court?
  • Who argued what?
  • Who appealed? 

Question Presented (i.e., the issue)

The issue(s) addressed by the court; usually the court will explicitly state what issue(s) it is addressing, but sometimes you might have to extrapolate what the issue was based on your reading of the case (start with the holding).

Legally Relevant Facts (Trigger)

Facts that the court bases its reasoning on – the facts that pushed the court to conclude one way or the other.

Additional Facts

(i.e., things to help you remember the case)

Facts that can help you recall a case but that are not necessarily relevant
Plaintiff’s Arguments The arguments raised by the parties; knowing these arguments can be extremely helpful when it comes to law school exams because you can analyze whether a court has addressed similar arguments before.
Defendant’s Arguments The arguments raised by the parties; knowing these arguments can be extremely helpful when it comes to law school exams, because you can analyze whether a court has addressed similar arguments before.
Rule(s)/Laws Discussed in the Case

One of the most important aspects of your case brief; you want to carefully model the language of your rule to make sure it is consistent with the rule discussed by the court.
Holding

The court’s conclusion on a case – where the court says it does or does not agree with the arguments advanced by parties.
Reasoning

Another important aspect of your brief; reasoning is why the court is holding what it did, and oftentimes contains a roadmap for how the court applies the facts of the case to the relevant law.
Main Take-Away (Optional)

Optional, but can take the form of a quick, succinct summary of the case; this could be particularly helpful when you are studying for a final exam.
Other Notes (Optional)