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The issue, as presented by the court; the issue as interpreted by the reader. The holding, which includes the answer to the issue and the reasons. The statement of the prevailing rule in that doctrine. The analytical approach or pattern used by the court. The commentary provided by the court, usually called.
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- Overview
- Summarizing the Facts
- Identifying the Issue and Decision
- Understanding the Reasoning
When you hear the word "law," you may assume the word refers to statutes passed by Congress and state legislatures. But a major portion of American law actually is case law – the rules appellate judges distill from their interpretation of statutes and other sources. Accordingly, much of law school is spent learning how to analyze case law. However,...
You should read the case through at least once from beginning to end until you attempt to figure out which facts are most important or analyze the court's holding. It's difficult to correctly determine what was central to the court's reasoning until you've read it all the way through.
The first time you read through a case, don't worry about trying to understand it. Just read for a sense of what's happening, who the major parties are, and what they want the court to do.
Keep in mind that legal opinions aren't written for laypeople, or even for law students or attorneys – they are written for other judges. If you don't understand something (assuming you're not an appellate court judge), there's nothing wrong with that.
You may have to go outside the opinion itself and look at other articles about the case, and then come back to it. For example, if you're reading a case that caused quite a stir in the media when it was decided, there will no doubt be newspaper and magazine articles about it. Reading those can help you better understand the court opinion.
Determine the legal issue raised by the facts.
The core of case law analysis is figuring out the exact issue or issues the court is being asked to resolve, and the process by which the court resolved it.
Essentially, you're looking for what the person who appealed the lower court's ruling wanted to happen, that didn't. To find the issue, you must figure out what that person thought the lower court did wrong, and why.
This usually isn't about something as simple as one person believing he should have been awarded more money, or a criminal defendant not wanting to go to jail. That might be part of an appellant's personal motivation, but to have a legitimate appeal you must be able to point to some way that the lower court made a legal error.
Identify the legal rules used by the court.
The rules used by the court to apply the law to a case's facts typically are precedents established by previous court decisions in similar cases.
Make note of the case from which the rule came, although typically it's not necessary for you to go back and read the case itself to understand the rule.
However, if a significant portion of the opinion discusses the previous case, you may want to go back and read it as well so you have a better understanding of what the court is talking about.
In some opinions (especially those penned by judges with straightforward writing styles), the rule used by the court will follow trigger phrases such as "the rule we apply is" or "we decide this case by applying the rule from" – phrases that alert you the court is about to tell you exactly what rule they used.
Most opinions won't be this direct, and require a closer analysis of the language to ascertain the rule the court used. Sometimes you can figure this out by working backwards. Read the court's decision, and then follow the court's train of logic in reverse until you reach the rule.
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Jun 20, 2023 · Example for case-specific questions: Why did the ICJ reject state responsibility of Serbia and Montenegro for acts in Srebrenica in the Bosnian Genocide Case? Thus, for both types of questions, students must find the applicable case law for persuasive reasoning. For this, students can resort to libraries and online databases.
Sep 21, 2021 · What is legal research? Legal research is the process of uncovering and understanding all of the legal precedents, laws, regulations, and other legal authorities that apply in a case and inform an attorney’s course of action.
Sep 6, 2023 · Case Law Analysis: A Comprehensive Guide for Law Firms in Legal Research. 0. By Kerry T. Welsh on September 6, 2023 Legal research. The field of law is built upon a foundation of case law, where previous legal decisions serve as precedents for future rulings.
Feb 29, 2024 · Case Law Research Guide. This guide details how to read a case citation and sets out the print and online sources for finding cases. Introduction. Every law student and practicing attorney must be able to find, read, analyze, and interpret case law.
FREE. All content is free for all to use, as we are supported by our strategic partners who utilize Casebriefs ™ to connect to the Higher Education and Professional Markets. Access the world's largest database of Free Case Briefs for Law Students. Curated from law school case books, includes links for optimal case understanding.
