A case brief is a structured summary of a judicial decision that captures the material facts, issues, holding, and the reasoning of a case.
It helps readers quickly understand what the case was about, how the court resolved it, and the legal principle that emerged from it.
Judicial decisions are often long, detailed, and complex. A case brief condenses a lengthy judgment into a clear, precise, and digestible format, making it easier for students, academics, and legal practitioners to recall, analyse, and apply the law.
Case briefs serve different purposes. They may be used to:
- Prepare for class discussions or examinations
- Brief senior partners or supervisors
- Support legal research, writing, and moot court preparation
- Inform readers through blogs, articles, or case notes about legal developments
As the name suggests, a case brief must be brief, but it must also be accurate and complete, capturing only what is legally significant.
Table of Contents
Step-by-Step Process on How to Write a Case Brief
1. Thoroughly Read the case you intend to Brief
Before writing a case brief, you must conduct legal research, find the case you intend to brief and read it fully. A partial or hurried reading often leads to inaccurate summaries and confusion between facts, issues, and reasoning.
You may read the case in print or digital format, depending on your preference. But as you read:
- Use different coloured highlighters to distinguish key sections i.e issues, holding, reasoning
- Highlight facts, issues, arguments, holdings, and ratio decidendi in different colours
- Make short margin notes summarising paragraphs in your own words
This colour-coding and annotation method helps break the judgment into manageable parts and ensures a deeper understanding of how the court reasoned through the case.
You can use AI legal research tools like NotebookLM or ChatGPT to summarise the case and pull out key sections such as the brief facts, issues, and holding.
For a thorough understanding, always read the case yourself. AI should only supplement your reading when time is limited.
2. Write out the Brief Facts
In this section, you must set out the material facts of the case.
The brief facts should answer the questions who, what, how, and when, without necessarily revealing the outcome of the case.
To properly brief the facts, this section should:
The brief facts should read neutrally, as though the facts and arguments are being presented to a judge for the first time.
Avoid indicating which party won the case at this stage.
3. State the Procedural Background
In appellate cases or applications, it may be necessary to explain the procedural background, including:
- What happened at the court of first instance
- The outcome of the trial
- What led to the appeal or application
However, where the case is being heard for the first time, procedural history may not be necessary.
4. Outline the Key Issues
Issues are the main points of controversy the court was required to determine.
They may be issues of law, issues of fact or issues of mixed law and fact.
Courts often expressly frame the issues in their judgments. Where this is done, it is best to adopt them as stated.
In appeals or applications, issues may appear as grounds rather than framed legal questions.
Your case brief should clearly set out these issues, as they form the basis of the court’s determination.
5. State the Holding
The holding is what the court decided on each issue or ground. It states the outcome of the issue, not the reasoning behind it.
As you write the holding, you do not need to necessarily reproduce the court’s wording verbatim unless precision is necessary.
Use your own words however ensure that you do not alter the court’s intent or conclusion. Where necessary, use direct quotations.
Important to note, each issue raised in your case brief should have a corresponding holding.
6. Give the Ratio Decidendi
The ratio decidendi is the legal principle or rule of law that justified the court’s holding.
While the holding tells us what the court decided, the ratio explains why the court decided that way. It is the binding part of the decision that may be relied upon in future cases.
The ratio should be clearly stated, extracted from the court’s reasoning and expressed as a general legal rule, not a mere restatement of facts.
Optional Sections of a Case Brief
The above discussed sections are the major parts that make up a case brief. Once properly written, you can confidently say that you have written an excellent brief.
However, depending on the circumstances and purposes of the case brief, you may want to include the following optional sections.
7. Laying out the Obiter Dicta
Obiter dicta are statements made by a judge that are not essential to the decision. They are given in passing and do not form part of the holding or ratio.
Not all cases contain obiter dicta. So, identifying them requires a clear understanding of the core issues in the case so you can discern which ones are not central to the case.
8. Writing the Dissenting Opinion
In cases decided by more than one judge, a dissent may arise where one or more judges disagree with the majority decision.
Dissents are not binding but can be influential, in formulating opinions or persuading for future cases.
9. Stating the Author’s Commentary
This section contains your own analysis or personal commentary of the case.
You may choose to highlight the most significant contribution of the decision, point out gaps or weaknesses in the court’s reasoning, or discuss issues the court did not sufficiently address.
This section is particularly useful for blogs, academic writing, and case commentary.
Conclusion
As discussed above, a well-written case brief captures the material facts, issues, holding, and ratio decidendi of a case in a clear and structured manner.
Mastering case briefing improves legal reasoning, enhances recall, and strengthens legal writing and argumentation.
The structure may differ a little depending on your law school or supervisor’s guidance. However, this article outlines the major structure to follow while writing a case brief.
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