What a brief is for
A brief has two jobs. In class, it is your script when the professor calls on you. At exam time, it is a compressed record of what the case taught you.
Identify the question your class is working on while noting other issues the court resolved. Preserve a qualification if changing it would change what the case supports.
The template
Use the same order every time. The repetition is what makes you fast.
- Citation: the case name, court, and year. The court tells you whose law it is and how much weight it carries.
- Facts: only the facts that mattered to the outcome. Cut names, dates, and background the court did not use.
- Procedural posture: who sued whom, who won below, and who appealed.
- Issue: the legal question, framed as a question that starts with 'whether' or 'does.'
- Rule: the legal test the court applied, stated separately from the result.
- Holding: the court's answer to the issue, applied to these facts.
- Reasoning: why the court ruled that way. Note any policy the court relied on.
- Disposition: affirmed, reversed, or remanded.
- Notes: concurrences, dissents, and your questions for class.
- Why it is here: the doctrine the professor put this case under.
A worked example: Hamer v. Sidway
Separate the uncle's requested restraint from any benefit he expected to receive. Hamer concerns the nephew surrendering lawful choices as the requested exchange; whether the restraint benefited the nephew does not replace that inquiry. Record the appeal's disposition separately from the holding on consideration.
| Part | Entry |
|---|---|
| Citation | Hamer v. Sidway, 124 N.Y. 538 (1891), New York Court of Appeals. |
| Facts | An uncle promised his nephew $5,000 if the nephew would refrain from drinking, smoking, swearing, and gambling for money until age 21. The nephew did. The uncle died without paying. |
| Posture | The nephew's assignee sued the executor. Trial court for plaintiff, General Term reversed, Court of Appeals reversed the General Term. |
| Issue | Whether giving up a legal right at the promisor's request is consideration, when the promisor gets no benefit. |
| Rule | A requested surrender of lawful freedom can supply the return performance for a promise; a financial benefit to the promisor is unnecessary. |
| Holding | Yes. The nephew's forbearance was consideration, and the promise is enforceable. |
| Reasoning | Courts do not weigh whether the exchange helped the promisee. It is enough that he gave up something he had a right to do. |
| Why here | Consideration: what counts, and why courts do not measure adequacy. |
| Other issues | The opinion also addresses the writing objection and the uncle's letter in its trust and limitations analysis. Keep those inquiries separate from consideration. |
How long a brief should take
Set a budget from the assignment you actually have. If you have twelve cases and six hours available, the average allowance is thirty minutes per case. A long opinion with separate writings may need more of that time than a short decision on one issue; allocate the available time across the assignment, giving more to the opinions that need it.
Track the step that consumed the time: understanding procedure, finding the governing test, following an application or choosing relevant facts. On the next case, change that step and compare the result. If the assigned reading cannot fit, ask about the expected depth instead of inventing a shortcut that omits material issues.
Book briefing and full briefing
Book briefing means marking the opinion and writing margin notes: F for facts, I for issue, R for rule, H for holding. It is fast, and it works for long or dense cases.
A typed full brief is slower and worth it for the cases your professor spends class time on. Do a full brief when you expect to be called on, and a book brief when you are only reading for the rule.
Mistakes that cost points later
The biggest one is stating the holding but not the rule. On an exam you need the rule, because the rule is what you apply to new facts.
The second is briefing every fact. If a fact did not change the result, leave it out. The third is skipping the 'why it is here' line, which is what connects the case to the outline.
Questions this guide answers
How long should a case brief be?
Try one page as a working target, subject to your instructor's requirements. Keep enough detail to explain each assigned issue and an exception that matters; a complex opinion can require more space.
Should I use a commercial case brief instead?
Use one only after you have done your own. A commercial brief does not teach you to find the rule, and it may not match what your professor emphasizes.
What is the difference between the rule and the holding?
The rule is the general legal test. The holding is how the court applied it to the facts of this case.
Do I need to brief every case?
Not in every course, and not in the same depth. Full briefs are for cases you expect to discuss. For the rest, mark the rule in the book.
Your next steps
- Brief the next three assigned cases with the template above and time yourself.
- After class, add what the professor said the case stands for.
- Copy each rule from your briefs into your outline under the right doctrine within a day.