Mentschikof and Stotzky, The Theory and Craft of American Law, Authors' Statement of the Course,

pp. xxiii!xxx"
We require a nine-item format for a case brief which is set out below with instructions for each item.
1. Citation. Obviously you will state the name of the case, the date it was decided, and the citation which allows you to relocate
the case on a moments notice. The citation should be in the form prescribed by the book entitled A Uniform System of Citation.
. Statement of the Case. The statement of a case is similar to a leadoff sentence in a newspaper article. !ere, we wish to know
who was suin" whom for what and on what basis.
#et us address an e$ample%
This was an action by the seller a"ainst the buyer to recover dama"es for breach of contract.
&otice what this simple statement of the case consists of. 't identifies the parties, their le"al relationship, the remedy they seek,
and the theory or reason for brin"in" suit. (lways ask yourself the followin" questions when statin" a case%
) What did the *laintiff want+ what did he ask for,
) What did the -efendant want+ and how did the case come to an issue,
.. Procedure What Happened Below (the ud!ment". /ost of the opinions we will study are from appellate courts. The primary
0ob of the appellate court is to correct the error of the lower court from which the case is appealed. Thus, we want to know what
happened at the lower court because this often frames the issues decided by the hi"her appellate court. We must find out who won
below and what occurred procedurally.
1, Statement of #acts. (ll rele$ant and material facts ar"uably used as a basis for decision should be placed in the statement of
facts. 2or instance, the *laintiff may be a red-haired 3ul"arian male. 's the fact that he had red hair relevant, 's the fact that he is
a 3ul"arian relevant, 's the fact that he is a male relevant, -oes the combination of any two or all three factors make them
relevant, 4ou must reali5e that when you read appellate opinions the facts have already been filtered by the attorneys and the
lower court. Thus, when writin" the facts, err on the side of too many facts rather than too few. 't is also important at this point to
be"in to classify and cate"ori5e facts which are relevant or irrelevant to the issues in front of the court, and which may later be
useful to the advocate in a new fact situation.
6. %ssue. What Action of the Court Below is Bein! &uestioned' What has the appellant claimed to be the error in the decision of
the lower court, The issue is, of course, conceptually tied to the facts, holdin", and result below. 4ou should state the issue as it
arises out of the facts. 2or e$ample, it is often useful to be"in a statement of the issue in the followin" form% 7Where facts (, 3,
8, and - have occurred, was the trial court correct in holdin" the buyer liable for the contract price,9 8onceptually , this process
will aid you in determinin" the elements of a case and their si"nificance dependin" upon the purpose you wish to make of this
case in future ar"ument.
:. (esult on Appeal. (n appellate court has the option of affirmin", reversin" or remandin" a case. 'n many cases, an appellate
court will reverse and remand the lower courts rulin" with specific instructions addressed to the lower court about how it must
handle the case on remand.
;. Holdin!. <enerally, the holdin" answers the issue in the affirmative or ne"ative. 'f, in the e$ample above, the appellate court
a"reed with the rulin" of the trial court, the holdin" mi"ht read% 7Where facts, (, 3, 8, and - have occurred, the trial court was
correct in holdin" the buyer liable for the contract price.9
When you state the holdin" you will want to include facts which are important to the rule of law in the case. 'n other words, use
the facts that serve as the basis for the rule of law.
=. (easons )he Herein of the )wo Becauses. The above description of the holdin" of a case as, essentially, the answer to the
issue, is not complete, however. The holdin" does more than answer the issue in the affirmative or ne"ative. 't also states the
doctrinal reason or ratio decidendi ) the rule the court tell s you is the rule of the case, the "round upon which the court itself has
rested its decision. (dditionally, there is the policy component which, althou"h not a formal part of the holdin", is also part of the
brief. This adds the 7situational sense9 to the case. ( holdin", for briefin" purposes, therefore is divided into three main
components% the answer to the issue and doctrinal and policy reasons. We refer to the doctrinal reason as the first because. The
policy reason is called, in our parlance, the second because.
#>?@.W*-
A(B *octrinal reason.
The first, because is the line of ar"ument that the court indul"ed in doctrinally. 't is the rule of the case. This may be referred to as
the ratio decidendi ) the "round upon which the court has rested its decision. 2or e$ample, does the court state the doctrinal
reason in terms of statutory construction, -oes the court state the doctrinal reason as a matter of le"al theory,
A3B Policy reasons.
The second because is made up of those parts of the courts ar"uments which are dicta or bri"ht remarks not necessary to the
decision or to the rule of law. They are not bindin" law+ rather, such commentary "ives us a hint about what the court may do in a
future case with sli"htly different facts. 2or instance, in the shoppin" center hypothetical, the doctrinal reason ) the first because
) may be that the towns law infrin"es on the "roups ri"hts to speech as protected by the 2irst (mendment to the Cnited Dtates
8onstitution. The policy because may be that the public "ood is promoted by a complete airin" of political views. That is, that
freedom of thou"ht ) of speech ) is seen as 7the matri$, the indispensable condition, of nearly every other form of freedom9 in
our society. Pal+o $. Connecticut, .E C.D. .1F, .; A1F.;B. The policy reason may be sub0ective, but it should be important for
future cases.
F. Additional Points. Cnder this headin", you should include any other dicta which may aid you in ar"ument in future cases. 't is
also appropriate to full brief the views of concurrin" and dissentin" 0ud"es