10+ Case Summary Examples – DOC, PDF

Studying the law can be very confusing and demanding. The law in itself is very complicated and things stated can sometimes mean differently than the literal. However, even if it can get confusing it is important to study the law in order for you to fully understand the how it works and why it is implemented in the first place. You may also see summary writing examples and samples.

When studying the law you need to have the patience, open-mindedness, attention to detail, good memory and lots and lots of understanding be it literally and/or figuratively. Descriptions and statements about a certain law demand to be thoroughly studied in order to fully understand and comprehend what it means. When you feel like you have understood what it meant literally, you need to read it again to find context clues that would change its literal meaning. You may also like resume summary examples.

Talking about case summary, a case is a  general term for an action, cause, suit, or controversy, at law or in equity. This means a legal case is a dispute between opposing parties. These cases are resolved with the help of court proceedings or by some equivalent legal process. A legal case can either be a civil case or a criminal case. A civil case more commonly known as a lawsuit or controversy. It begins when a plaintiff files a complaint with a court, and is requesting a remedy for what the plaintiff has allegedly suffered because of the defendant. On the other hand, a criminal case begins when a person suspected of committing a crime is indicted by a grand jury or is charged with offense by a government sanctioned official called a prosecutor or district attorney. You may also check out dos and don’ts in writing a chapter summary.

What is a Case Summary?

In order to full understand the law, you must first know how to read and understand court decisions. In this sense, there has been a long-term method used in studying cases with court decisions. Case summary or case brief is long-used method in studying the law. It has been used by law students for quite a long time since it is a very useful and efficient way of studying the law. Not only that, it is also very useful in preparing course outlines and for exams.

It employs a “Socratic” or case method of teaching when students prepare for classes. Its purpose is to let students identify the rules of law found in court cases or the governing law that subjects the cases. It also urges the students to analyze how the courts treat the facts of the case and apply these rules of the law to them in an objective and rational manner. You may also see career summary examples.

As it is a summary, it is presenting substance or facts in a condensed form. And since cases are usually lengthy documents containing facts, issues, rationale, etc. about the case, it is shortened or condensed so that is is easier and more efficient to read and study. Summarizing or briefing cases hone the analytical skills and enhances understanding the role of the courts in defining, interpreting and applying the law that governs the people. You may also like movie summary examples in pdf.

It basically means isolating significant elements of a judicial opinion and creating a short written version with the use of that information. It requires you to read cases thoroughly and carefully so that you can segregate the information that are useful from those that are not. As mentioned earlier, it hones you analytical skills and judgement therefore, during the course of time, it will be easier for you to decide what to include and how much detail to include in your summary. It will also help you retain more information for class since you have finished reading and briefing a case. It also serves as a handy and quick reference for class recitations. You may also check out summary examples.

Case Brief Summary Template

Law Student Case Brief Summary Sheet Template

Case Summary Guide

Case Summary Format Example

Purpose of a Case Summary

Here are the major purposes of a case summary:

1. A helpful way of remembering the facts of a case in short span of time, for whatever purpose most commonly for class discussion.
2. Allows you to acquire the future value or the precedent from a judicial decision. In other words, it helps you find the principles of law that the case sets forth.
3. It is an easier and smoother review of an area of law. Since it is basically reducing a complex and long document (case) into facts, holding, and rationale, it provides a comprehensive version of the case and/or a summary of an area of law. You may also see how to write a professional summary.

Case Summary Template Example

Case Summary Template Example

Types of Case Brief

There are at least two most common terms with regards to a legal brief.

1. Appellate Brief

An appellate brief is written legal document which is presented to an appellate court. the main purpose of this type of brief is to convince and persuade the higher court to uphold or reverse the decision the court has made. This is is equipped to presenting the issues in the case from a one sided perspective only.

2. Student Brief

During a classroom discussion, a student brief is used since it is a summary and analysis of the case used as reference. It is basically a set of systematically presented notes that sorts out the parties involved, identifies the issues, confirm the decision of the court and analyze the reasoning behind the decision. Although this includes only the same items o information, the way these items are presented can still vary. You may also like what to include in a resume summary statement.

Case Summary Example

Elements of a Case Summary

Since a case summary or case brief is primarily a tool used for studying, it should be structured to meet your own needs. Here are several basic components of a brief that are present in almost all brief styles:

1. Facts
   • Simply put, these are all the pertinent information and facts of the case. These are the important facts that heavily influence the case. You may also see examples of writing a narrative summary.
2. Issue or issues
   • This is the issue or the problem that is addressed in the case. This pertains to the legal questions are posed by the appealing party.
3. Holding, including the rule of law
   • This is the ruling of the court. This is about the decision of the court and how the court made its decision about the case. You may also like interview summary examples.
4. Rationale
   • This is your explanation on why the court ruled the way that it did. The rationale is your personal explanation regarding the process of how and why the court decided on its ruling of the case.

Free Case Summary Example

Simple Case Brief Example

Sections of a Case Summary

1. Caption/Citation of the Case

The caption of the case gives useful information about the context of the case. It includes the names of the parties involved, a unique “docket number” which often refers to the year in which the case was commenced followed by a sequential reference number; it also includes the name of the deciding court and the date of the opinion. On the other hand, the section that contains the information that enables lawyers to quickly find the case opinion in published or online sources is called the citation. You may also see how to write an investment summary.

2. Procedural history

Appellate courts are responsible for the hearing and reviewing appeals from legal cases that has been through a hearing in a trail-level or other lower court. The most common published opinions come from appellate courts. In this section of the case brief, the parties involved and the process and hearing that happened in the lower courts are summarized. You may also like thesis summary examples.

3. Holding

The holding section of the case brief is for the final decision the court has reached. Applying the pre-existing rules, policy and reasoning to the facts of the case is the reason behind reaching the holding. Deciding how to broadly or narrowly to phrase the holding of the case is perhaps the most difficult task in this section of the case brief. If you state the holding too narrowly it may understate its significance and vice versa. It must be framed and constructed well in order to state it with its exact significance. You may also check out research summary examples.

4. Issue

The issue of the case brief is the legal question the courts has decided upon. In connection to the purposes of a case brief, it is more helpful to frame the issue more narrowly, broadly or specifically than how the court stated it. Just like the holding, it must be a balance between being tool general and being too specific. You might be interested in what should be in an executive summary of a report?

5. Facts

This is where you focus the facts that were important to the final outcome of the case. Same with everything, not all facts has a direct relation to the outcome of the case, some will not be “outcome-determinative.” The main goal of a case brief is to isolate the useful and influential facts from those that are not. If you successfully isolate the outcome-determinative facts, it will help you judge the reach of the decisions on future cases. It will then help you predict the court decision on future new cases. You may also see performance summary examples in pdf.

6. Reasoning

The reasoning is where you summarize how and why the court reached its decision. This is where you explain how the court interpreted the pre-existing rules and how it was applied to the facts of the case. In addition, if the court relied on policy considerations, you have to summarize those information it as well. You may also like curriculum vitae summary examples.

Sample Case Brief Summary

People Hall Sample Case Brief

How to Write a Case Summary

Case briefing is just ways of taking notes and familiarizing facts of the case. With this in mind, there will come a time when you have finished your law school degree and pass the bar exams, you will eventually find no use to writing case briefs all the time. However, given the fact that you are still currently a student, here is how you can write a case summary of case brief for your class discussions:

1. Title and Citation

The title should immediately identify who is opposing whom. The name or party that has initiated the legal action should always come first followed by the defendant. Meanwhile, the citation tells how to locate the reporter of the case in the appropriate case reporter. If you have no idea about the citation of the case, it can be found using the case digest covering the court or through the computer-assisted legal research tools. You may also see how to create an executive summary of a marketing plan.

2. Facts of the Case

This includes the summary of the pertinent facts legal points raised in the case. It should indicate the nature of the litigation, who sued whom, based on what occurrences, and what happened during the trial in the lower court/s. The facts of the case in your student brief should include these elements:

• A single sentence describing the nature of the case as an introduction.
• A statement of the relevant law. With quotation marks or underlining it should draw attention to the key words or phrases that are in dispute. You may also like meeting summary examples.
• A summary of the complaint (in a civil case) or the indictment (in a criminal case). It should also include relevant evidence and arguments presented in court, for example: who did what to whom and why the case was thought to involve illegal conduct.
• A summary of actions taken by the lower courts. This means the decision that was made in court such as the defendant being convicted; conviction upheld by appellate court; Supreme Court granted certiorari. You may also check out how to write an executive summary for a business plan.

3. Issues

Often, the court explicitly states the issues or questions of law that are particular to the case. However, you must watch out for the misstatement of the questions raised by the lower court’s opinion, by the parties on appeal, or by the nature of the case by the judge. You might be interested in business statement examples and samples.

In constitutional cases where it frequently involves multiple issues, be sure to include both interest to only litigants and lawyers and others significant to citizens and officials alike. When noting and constructing the issue, it is always helpful and effective to state them as questions that can be answered with a yes or no.

However, despite how the court has decided on the case, you must try test the court’s version of the issue against other information in the case. It will be more helpful for you if you try to state it more narrowly, broadly, or specifically than the court stated it. It is also easier to frame the issue is to start with the court holding then state it as a question. You may also see research statement examples.

4. Reasoning

The reasoning or the rationale is the chain of argument that lead to the courts decision. This is a summary of how and why the court reached the decision. You should explain how the court interpreted and applied pre-existing rules to the facts of the case. Be sure to include information about the court relying on policy considerations when making their decision. You may also like need statement examples & samples.

In conclusion, if you a currently studying the law, props to you; it is not an easy feat. In fact even summary a case can be difficult and requires a lot of time and understanding. And perhaps the most important thing to remember before you even start briefing or summarizing a case is that read. If you feel like you know enough about the case read again; thoroughly and carefully so you can objectively comprehend the facts pertaining to the case to make an objective summary.