Reading Cases

Several students have stopped by our offices with questions about reading cases, and several have asked how all of these cases relate to their law school experience as a whole. These students have wanted to know how much they need to know about every case for their finals, and how much of each case they need to include in their outline. Below is an excerpt of a blog post written by Dean Amy Jarmon, which includes a summary of how you should attack your case reading and briefing for the semester:

All cases are not equal in importance. Some cases are read for historical background only - the law will change by the last case on a sub-topic. Some cases are packed full of important essentials such as rules, policies, jurisdictional differences, important points of reasoning. Some cases are included for just one smaller essential: a definition or an exception.

Cases need to be read at two levels. What are the important aspects to understand about the individual case itself? This level of reading focuses on the parts within a case and the specifics one needs to understand the case. How does the case fit into a series of cases, into the sub-topic, and into the topic? This level of reading focuses on the synthesis of the case into the larger body of law that one is learning.

Cases are a starting point in the study of law rather than an ending point. Cases show us how judges think about the law. Cases teach us how to extrapolate the most important aspects from the full opinion. Cases provide us with "tools" for our toolkit so we can solve new legal problems. Cases become illustrations in outlines rather than the basis of outlines. Professors will not ask one to "recite everything you know about Case X" on their exams.

Cases are essential to the practice of law. Lawyers read and analyze cases every day. They are constantly searching for precedents that relate to their clients' cases. Thus, the time spent in law school on reading and briefing is not merely an "ivory tower" exercise. Students who become skilled at these tasks are making an investment in their future expertise. Students who use canned briefs or headnotes as substitutes for these tasks ultimately shortchange their professional growth.

Case reading and case briefing are important legal skills that take time to learn. The process becomes faster as the law student becomes more expert at analysis. It also becomes faster once the law student understands why we read cases.

See Amy Jarmon, Reading cases for more oomph, Law School Academic Support Blog, September 20, 2010, available at http://lawprofessors.typepad.com/academic_support/.

Outlining - Organizing by Rule

Now that we have discussed the big picture of what an outline is and how to go about starting your outline, let's talk about the details of organizing your outline by the rules and how much of the rule you need to know.

Your outline should be organized by rule of law, not by the case - yes, you learn the rules by reading cases, but when it comes to outlining, everything gets stripped away, and the remaining rules (that is: definitions, elements, factors, exceptions, and defenses) are left.

Things to think about when putting together the rule of law in your outline include:

• How is the rule defined?


• Are there any words within the rule that need to be defined?


• Under what facts or circumstances would the rule likely apply?


• Are there any tests or factors that must be met?


• Are there limitations, exceptions or exemptions?


• Are there any consequences for applying the rule?


• What would be the result of applying the rule to the applicable parties?

These points are just to get you started; your outline has to have enough detail to allow you to learn the law with specificity, thus you should include enough detail so that you can use it as a study tool, but not so much detail that you get bogged down and lose sight of the big picture. So in determining whether you have enough detail; ask yourself:

1. Have you been able to define the rule fully and completely (including knowing how it might arise in context), and


2. Do you appreciate how the rule operates (including knowing what happens if the court finds the rule applicable; and what are the likely results, outcomes effects, etc.).

So what about all those cases you read in class? They have a place, but the weight depends on the class and your professor. Listen for clues in class, such as when you professor tells you that you the applicable case is a "seminal" case; when a rule of law or legal doctrine is derived from a specific case (i.e. the Erie Doctrine, a Brady violation, Miranda rights, etc.); or when a professor tells you that you need to know the specific case - these are pretty good signs that you should include the case name and holding in your outline, as well as understand the case as you would any other rule of law.

Further, your class notes are an important tool for compiling your outline as they should capture what you learned in class, as well as give insight into your professor's tone and points of law your professor highlighted in class.

Introduction to Outlining

Your outlines are where you can adequately make sense of the concepts from your respective classes and figure out the relationships between these concepts. It is important to know how to outline, as well as understand what your outline should include because you will have to generate your own outlines - you are best suited to do so!

[A note about commercial outlines: while they may provide the rules of law, they provide the material in such a generic manner that it will not necessarily follow how your professor teaches the class, so you should not depend solely on these sources because they may fail to capture of the nuances and emphases that are pointed out in class.]

The purpose of your outline is two-fold:

1. Your outline is a vehicle for you to learn the law because it requires you to organize and record the information for your understanding and retrieval. In doing this, you must take apart the individual rules and connect them in a way that reflects how the rules interact as a whole - it is not enough to know the individual rule, but you must also know how the rules work together.

2. It helps you prepare for exams because while writing your outline you have worked through the analysis of issues you are likely to find on your exam. Your outline will contain all you need to know when studying for exams, and in the way you need to know it.

When should you begin outlining?

You should start early in the semester, but not so early that you do not have the full picture of one topic. We suggest beginning outlines when you have completed one topic, and gradually adding to your outline - topic by topic as you proceed throughout the semester.

Where do you start?

There are many places to begin - your syllabus will provide a sequence and structure for your outline; likewise, the table of contents in your casebook will help you by dividing topics. These can both be places to start in determining how to sequence your outlines, and what topics need to be covered.

How do you format an outline?

We suggest a regular outline format with a bullet or numerical scheme - it doesn't matter which format you decide; the point is that you will want to rank concepts, and identify main topics and subtopics. Usually, there is a logical sequence to follow in analysing a problem based on the construction of the rule, and this hierarchy should be worked out in your outline (again, your syllabus or the table of contents from your textbook are great places to see the hierarchy; hornbooks may help with subheadings, too).

The real work of outlining comes from synthesizing the material so that you can differentiate between the main topics and the subtopics; and do not be afraid to go outside your casebook and notes for help - hornbooks are a great resource for explaining material.

Once you have your main topics and subtopics, then you can begin to fill in the pieces to provide substance and meaning by filling in the outline with definitions, cases and examples.

Intro to IRAC

The vast majority of your exams in law school test your ability to "think like a lawyer" - in achieving this goal, you should master the IRAC structure of legal analysis; that is a structure that lays out the "Issue, Rule, Application, Conclusion." IRAC can be an important guide for you because all professors want your exams to include well-reasoned arguments based on the analysis of the relevant issues and an application of the relevant facts. Generally, your answer will depend upon how you have articulated your understanding of the facts, recognized the issues, and explained the applicable rules - it is by this reasoning that you will reach the conclusion.

In essay exams, the fact pattern may be as short as one paragraph or as long as several pages; the question may include one, two, or multiple parties - at this point, these details don’t matter. Your job is always the same: address the question that is asked by giving an explanation of the law and the facts. Regardless of the form, each issue and sub-issue will be organized and analyzed individually; and you will be able to analyze each issue based on the relevant facts and law.

Below are a few points you should think about when writing an exam or practicing your exam writing skills with hypotheticals:

• Begin by identifying your issue: a construction of whether [rule of law] when [relevant facts] is often useful (i.e. The issue is whether Steve committed the tort of trespass to land when he entered the neighboring plot of land to retrieve his hat.).
• Introduce and articulate the rule: do not forget to identify the controlling body of law (i.e. Under the U.C.C. . . .), and follow a hierarchy of concepts (it is often effective to move from general to specific; make sure to include relevant legal definitions and any exceptions or exclusions, if applicable).
• As for your application (or analysis): begin by a transitional word (here, in this case, etc.) and use the word because to link your rule to the relevant fact (i.e. liability for trespass to land occurred when Steve stepped onto his neighbor's land because he fully intended to do so.).
• Offer a conclusion for each issue, and repeat your IRAC for each issue and sub-issue of the hypothetical or exam.

Professor Darrow-Kleinhaus fully walks you through a successful IRAC in her book, Mastering the Law School Exam (Thomson West 2006), which can be your guide to IRAC as it further expands on the points illustrated here.

Case Briefing

Several first year students have stopped by for advice on case briefing. There are many ways to brief a case stylistically, but regardless of your style, your case brief is a summary of the case that you have read for class - your brief should break down the elements of the case and allow you to identify the facts, procedural history, legal issue, and law at hand.

A great resource to use as a guide for case briefing is Dean Charlotte Taylor's book, Bridging the Gap Between College and Law School: Strategies for Success (Carolina Academic Press 2001, 2009) (http://www.cap-press.com/authors/209/Charlotte+D.+Taylor).