Suggestion on How to Read a Case

1. Identify the Parties Involved, the Court That Decided It, and When the Decision Was Reached.

2. The Important Facts of the Case:

After reading the case that you will report, the first thing you should do is identify the important facts or circumstances that help to identify the issue that confronted the court and that played a key role in deciding the outcome of the case. This will help you distinguish those facts that are more important than others, as well as to analyze how the facts played a part in the outcome. Each case will give you enough of the facts to enable you to make these decisions.

3. The Issue Which the Court Decided:

The issue in any case is usually posed in the form of a question which the Court answers in its decision. The issue will help me to recognize how closely you read the case and how well you understand it.

4. The Court’s Discussion of Relevant Legal Principles and Concepts:

When a Court decides a case, it often refers to the legal principles that guide its decision. In some cases, the Court will discuss the competing principles which each party would like the Court to adopt in its decision. In still other cases, the court will emphasize key facts that help the Court apply the principles and concepts. In this portion of your case report, you will be giving me an indication of how well you understood the basis on which the Court reached its final decision. Rather than simply copying the words that the Court used, I will be looking for those signs that indicate that you understand what the Court has said. Therefore, in this part of the report I will be evaluating how well you explain the basis for the decision. Do not rely simply on copying the words of the Court into your report without ever asking yourself whether you understand what the words mean. One benefit of this approach is that when you have finished it properly, the case report, particularly the discussion portion, should be all you need to review for an examination of that material.

5. The Court’s Holding in the Case:

The Holding of a case is considered to be the answer of the Court to the question that you posed in step number 3. It will tell me how well you understand the outcome of the case.