1. Case Name: Smith v. Jones, 310 U.S. 200 (2000). (Mouse over the case name and citation to understand the different pieces of a cite.) It is a good idea to include the full citation, including the date of the opinion, for future reference.
2. Facts: Usually a judge will have paragraphs of the opinion dedicated to a description of the facts. You need not include all the facts in your case brief; however, try to include facts that are most relevant to the court’s reasoning. Important facts usually include the cause of action or claim and possible defenses.
3. Procedural History: Most cases you will read for class are appellate opinions where an appellate judge reviews a trial judge’s opinion. Therefore, the appellate judge will explain what happened to the case below in the trial court. These facts are helpful to understand the posture of the case when it came before this particular court.
4. Issue: The issue is the particular question the court had to decide in this case. It usually includes specific facts as well as a legal question.
5. Holding: The holding is the way in which the court decided the issue.
6. Reasoning: The judge should explain the holding using legal reasoning. Here the judge should cite to other cases as well as any particular statute, constitutional provision, or regulation that supports the holding. In briefing the case for class, you usually need not cite to these authorities. However, you should be able to summarize the legal reasoning of the court. Oftentimes a professor will ask questions relating to the basis of this legal reasoning and try to poke holes in the judge’s logic. In addition, professors will often ask you how far you think this legal reasoning should be applied by asking hypothetical problems and asking you to employ the same reasoning.
7. Dissent: The dissent is an opinion written by another judge sitting on the same panel as the writing judge. Although this opinion is not considered law, the professor might ask questions about this judge’s legal reasoning or use some of the dissenting judge’s arguments to discuss the issue.

Name_of_the_case

Facts

Procedural History

Issue

Holding

Reasoning