How to Write a Case Brief: The Ultimate Cheatsheet

Case briefing has a long history in legal studies as a tried-and-true method for reviewing and analyzing judicial opinions. 

Whether you’re a law student attempting to master case briefing, or a lawyer seeking to re-learn this skill to advocate more effectively, this blog post provides a useful cheat sheet to make tackling case briefs more efficient.

As for the legal briefing on your own cases, book a demo with Clio to see how our practice management solution can help you keep case information and documents organized and boost your productivity. 

Remember: The most important element of a case brief is the thought you put into it, so do not expect to be using AI for this purpose.

Unlike legal briefs, case briefs are not submitted to the court or opposing counsel. Instead, case briefs can help a lawyer or law student digest relevant judicial opinions and be able to discuss them thoroughly. This is an obvious benefit for an appellate or trial lawyer at oral argument, or a law student facing a professor’s Socratic-method-style questioning.

Some basic elements of a case brief include summaries of the facts, procedural history, the main legal issue of the case, and the court’s holding. However, there are other essential steps in writing a useful case brief.  

Steps for writing a case brief

The following are some essential steps for how to write a brief of a case.

1. Review the case thoroughly

Before diving into the actual writing of the case brief, you should read the entire judicial opinion thoroughly. The first time, you may seek to simply get a big picture view of the case. On subsequent readings, you should start identifying key facts and issues and analyzing the court’s reasoning. 

2. Case name and citation

Start off your case brief with the case name and citation. While the citation is needed for reference and research purposes, it also has other purposes. It will include the names of the parties and the year and jurisdiction where the case was decided.

3. Outline the case facts

In this section, you will outline the relevant facts that led up to the filing of the lawsuit. A simple proposition applies both here and to the case brief as a whole—it should be brief, not a rehash of the entire judicial opinion. Accordingly, your facts section should only be a summary of the most pertinent facts for the overall case analysis. Multiple readings will likely be necessary for this determination.

Also be sure to clearly name the parties involved in your fact summary. Specify who the plaintiff and defendant were at the trial court level (for civil cases) and avoid calling the parties “appellant” or “respondent,” since any party can initiate an appeal. A shorthand term for a party may also be helpful for easy review, such as “Abbott” for Abbott Laboratories. 

4. Describe the procedural history

Next, you should outline the procedural history that led to the case coming before the court that issued the decision. This should include the relevant causes of action in the complaint. (An alternative practice is to include the filing of the original complaint in the facts section). 

Then, state the trial court determination that led to the appeal, such as the granting of a:

• motion to dismiss, 
• motion for summary judgment, or 
• motion for new trial. 

If the case has already been addressed by an appellate court, include that court’s determination as well.

5. State the legal issue

The legal issue is the legal question the court is resolving with this opinion. These will not be factual issues, since those are the sole province of the trier of fact (whether that is a judge or jury). However, you should include the key facts relating to the legal issue in dispute.

For law students, the legal issue can be gleaned from examining why your law student assigned you the case or why it is included in the textbook. 

For attorneys, the legal issue will likely relate to the reason you—or your opponent—are citing the case in the first place.

6. State the court’s holding and reasoning

The court’s holding is how it resolved the legal issue—that is, how it answered the legal question. This holding should be stated as close to a “yes” or “no” as possible. Remember to briefly state the court’s legal rationale for the holding.

7. Summarize the rule of law applied by the court

The rule of law is the legal principle applied by the court to reach its decision. For law students, this will be the main takeaway of the case, as intended by your professor. For attorneys, this will be the main point for which you or your opponent is citing the case. Many appellate decisions will actually state the rule of law directly, but this is not always the case.

8. Concurring and dissenting opinions

The final stage of summarizing concurring and dissenting opinions may be optional, depending on the circumstances. These opinions can include interesting alternative analyses of the case. If you include these summaries, be sure to address why a judge decided to write their separate opinion. 

Different briefing approaches

There are several different approaches to outlining your case brief. Note that these are also common outlines for answers on law school exams.

• IRAC. The most well-known structure for case briefing, this acronym stands for “Issue, Rule, Application, and Conclusion”. The Application usually covers the court’s reasoning, while the Conclusion covers the court’s holding.
• ICRA. Issue, Conclusion, Rule, Application. More of a stylistic difference from IRAC, this moves the Conclusion section up toward the beginning of the brief.
• CRAC. Conclusion, Rule, Application, Conclusion. This is best to use when you want to emphasize the court’s conclusion in your brief.
• CREAC. Conclusion, Rule, Explanation, Application, Conclusion. The Explanation section can expand on the court’s reasoning.

Note that all of these structures come after the facts and procedural history and focus on the case analysis.

Common mistakes to avoid in case briefing

There are several common errors made in case briefs.

Overloading the brief with irrelevant details

A case brief is intended to be a brief summary of the case. Avoid overloading your brief with innocuous facts, procedural twists, and side arguments. Just stick to the meat of the analysis.

Neglecting procedural history

Procedural history is important for understanding how the court applied the law and reached its conclusion. Neglect to include this information, and your brief may be difficult to review and understand at a later date.

Misidentifying the legal issue

The legal issue of the case may be the most important element of the case brief. Misidentify this issue and your rule of law and analysis will also be flawed.

Writing the brief for someone other than yourself

It is important to remember the case brief is not for a judge, opposing counsel, or law professor. Unlike much legal writing, a case brief is written for your reference. Attorneys can think of a case brief as more of a legal memo. Accordingly, do not be obsessed with proper formatting to the extent that you waste undue time or fail to analyze the case correctly.

Case brief template

The following is a potential template to use for a case brief, using the IRAC structure:

Case Name and Citation: _____

Facts: _____

Procedural History: _____

Issue: _____

Rule: _____

Application: _____

Conclusion: _____

Subsequent _____

Treatment (if any):

Final thoughts on writing a case brief

For attorneys and law students alike, case briefing can be a critical tool for success. Follow this guide to elevate your case briefs.

Once case briefing has helped you organize your research and legal arguments, check out how Clio can help you keep your existing cases organized and your firm running smoothly. Schedule a demo now.

We published this blog post in December 2024. Last updated: December 18, 2024.

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