Briefing Cases

An important skill you will need to develop for law school is briefing cases; that is, writing quick and accurate summaries (or “briefs” in law terms) of the material you’re assigned to read. The essence of a case brief is: a list of the facts of the case, the legal issue involved, the principles of the law applied, the holding of the judge or court and the reasoning of the majority, and a quick summary of any concurrences or dissents.

A legal brief is like a CliffsNotes of a case, and is used in the same way: to extract information without having to read the whole case over again. It needs to be short and cover very specific information. It’s not a book report where you’re trying to be creative and entertain the reader. It’s also not a research paper that tries to cover everything. In fact, a good brief is quite boring to read, but proves its worth when you need information at your fingertips quickly.

Writing a good brief takes some practice. If you start practicing before law school, you will enjoy a huge boost to both your progress and your grades.