Welcome to LearnLawBetter.
Have you been wondering how to brief a case, or whether it’s even worth your time to
do so?
In this episode, learn when and how to brief a case, so you don’t get embarrassed in
class and are prepared for capturing the most important part of a case.
Hi, this is Beau Baez, and today I want to give you some advice on briefing cases.
First, the magic question: should you bother briefing cases since you are likely hearing
conflicting information.
Your professors and academic support faculty are telling you yes, and some upper level
student are telling you no.
Early in my teaching career, this question came up during a faculty meeting.
In the room were very successful academics who attended the most prestigious law schools
in the country.
About half of the people in the room said they briefed all throughout law school, and
the other half said they didn’t, quitting after the first semester of law school.
Before answering the question, we first have to discuss the purpose of case briefing, which
is twofold.
First, case briefing is designed to prepare you for the classroom discussion.
For some of you, your professors cold call so you don’t want to be embarrassed by not
being prepared.
But even if you’re not in that situation, you still need to be prepared because
being prepared will allow for greater engagement during class time.
If you’re not engaged you will likely not fully understand the discussion, which will
lead to lower grades.
The second purpose of case briefing is to get the rule of law.
At a bare minimum, before class time you need to find the rule of law for each case, write
it down, and then revise it during class if it’s not correct.
This is important because the rule of law is the only information you need after you
finish discussing a case.
So now, let’s answer the question of whether you need to brief cases.
The answer is yes and no.
During your first semester you should definitely brief cases, including the case name, the
court’s name, the relevant facts, the procedural history, the issue, the rule of law, the holding,
and the court’s rationale.
This is essential because what you are learning to read and understand case law.
By understand, I don’t mean a superficial understanding, but a deep understanding that
will help you develop the skills you need to succeed.
Most law students fail to brief because they think, they think, they know the case—they don’t.
So use case briefing as a method, at least for a semester, to learn how to think like
a lawyer.
Now, after the first semester, if you've mastered the skill sufficiently, then you can cut corners.
You can start writing notes in the margins of your casebook.
Since I’m recommending case briefing, let’s talk about the amount of time to spend on
this task.
Don’t spend a whole lot of time on case briefing.
Your brief should be no more than a page in length, and ideally about half a page.
Second, don’t spend too much time on this, except for articulating the rule statement,
which is vitally important for the final exam.
As to the rest of the case, you need a working knowledge of the case for classroom discussion,
but not complete mastery as you will never look at that case again after class is over.
Some of your colleagues will spend hours on a single case, attempting to master every
part of it.
That's a waste of time and effort.
Since your two goals in case briefing are class engagement and rule identification,
so your time is better spent on other tasks, like outlining and final exam prep.
As I tell my students, if you are called on and you miss some facts or you don’t have the
rule exactly right, the usual consequence is a little bit of embarrassment.
But ultimately, most, if not all of your course grade is coming from a single final exam.
So you must use your time in a way that will maximize your grade, not help you feel better
after being called on by the professor.
I hope you enjoyed today’s discussion.
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If you disagreed or have further questions, leave a comment below.
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