A case brief is a short article that describes a court opinion. It requires a very responsible approach as it’s often used in analyzing and defining court cases as well as arguing the outcome of the trial.
To prepare for writing a case brief, you need to pay attention to all the provided details of the case:
- You need to have the clearest image of what has happened as possible. Don’t confuse a civil (a case sued by a person) and a criminal (a case sued by the government) case.
- Gather all important information such as case name, the information about all judges related to the case, date, and so forth. For example, sometimes one of the judges may not agree with the opinion of the rest and documents disagree in the analysis of the case. It should be mentioned as it may make clear some of the controversial points of the case.
- Make sure are you writing an appeal or a certiorari petition.
Find and analyze information about every act of each court.
How to write a case brief?
- Think over all the information you’ve prepared. Usually, the first paragraph of each case brief is “Facts of the Case”. You need to understand which of the gathered facts are legally significant and briefly describe them.
- What is the problem of the case? Formulate a question that should be brought to Court. Notice the particular information about the case as well as constitution principles that may call into question a legal opinion or approve it. Always take in mind alternatives.
- Mention the Court’s answer and its legal reasons. Summarize all the facts of why the determination came in this way. Try to present it in the most understandable way to any reader.
- Use your own words. You shouldn’t avoid a citation, but the text mustn’t be just a repetition of the information provided by the Court.
Based on: https://www.geekgirlauthority.com/how-to-write-a-case-brief-step-by-step/