Case Brief
Represents a final product after reading a case.
Concurrent Opinion
A concurring opinion is an opinion that agrees with the majority opinion but does not agree with the rationale behind it.
Dissent
A dissent refers to at least one party’s disagreement with the majority opinion. An appellate judge or Supreme Court Justice who writes an opinion opposing the holding is said to write a dissenting opinion.
Holding
A court’s decision on a matter of law in civil procedure is called a “holding.”
IRAC
The typical organizational structure that most professors require on law school exams. IRAC is an acronym, standing for Issue, Rule, Application, and Conclusion. Thus, the acronym IRAC tells you the exact order of your paragraphs.
Issue Statement
An effective issue statement is both informative and persuasive. 3 It serves three critical functions: it (i) identifies the legal issue you would like the court to address, (ii) frames the issue from your client’s perspective, and (iii) suggests the result your client desires. 4 Therefore, when constructing your issue statement, you must consider how both the substance and form may impact the judge’s perception of your client’s theory.
Legal Analysis
- It is the analysis of a legal problem aimed at proposing a legal solution, using existing law, including precedent, statutes, and regulations.
- It is a style of breaking down a problem into logical, persuasive steps.
- It is “thinking like a lawyer.”
Opinion
Justices record these after review a case & present to other Justices for discussion before ruling.
Legal Research Databases
Breakdown legal documents into sub-parts or “fields.”
Legal Writing Software
Legal writing software includes a variety of tools that help legal professionals draft, review, and manage legal documents more efficiently and accurately.
Material Facts
Crucial to the interpretation of a phenomenon or a subject matter, or to the determination of an issue at hand this is a specific type of confirmed or validated event, item of information, or state of affairs.
Majority Opinion
Judicial opinion that is joined by more than half the judges deciding a case.
Precedent
Refers to a court decision that is considered an authority for deciding subsequent cases involving identical or similar facts, or similar legal issues.
Primary Source
Primary legal sources are the actual law in the form of constitutions, court cases, statutes, and administrative rules and regulations.
Procedural History of a Case
Is how the case got to
the court where it is now; what happened from the date the suit/charge was brought to now (think
civil or criminal procedure)? Was there a motion for summary judgment? Did the plaintiff or defendant appeal the decision to the appellate court?
Secondary Source
May restate the law, but they also discuss, analyze, describe, explain, or critique it as well. In short, anything that is more than the actual law is considered a secondary source.
