How to Brief a Case
Business Law and Legal Environment is not simply rules and regulations passed by federal and state organizations and legislatures. Business law also includes case law created when courts rule on various legal issues. Accordingly, being able to read and understand judicial opinions is critical to obtaining a robust understanding of business law. One method for understanding court cases and saving time is known as “briefing.” To brief a case, one must read the case thoroughly, taking in the main points, then write up a short synopsis of the case. A standard brief contains information from the case organized in the following manner: (1) case name and citation; (2) facts; (3) issue; (4) ruling; and (5) reasons. By organizing case information according to the five categories just listed, one can create a short guide to any case that contains all of the relevant information to aid in understanding the case, as well as create a tool for later references to the case without having to reread the case every time.

The following is a quick description of what information is typically included in each of the five areas of a standard brief.

1. Case name and citation. This information is used to identify the case. Under this heading the case name, the court making the decision, the year the decision was made, and the citations for the case should all be included.

2. Facts. The facts section is used to provide the relevant background information from the case to facilitate a full understanding of what lead to the case, as well as what happened in lower court cases for cases that are heard on appeal. The facts section should include: (a) relevant background information; (b) the arguments made by the plaintiff(s) and defendant(s); (c) any decisions made by lower courts.

3. Issue. The issue, or issues, is the question, or questions, the court has been asked to address in hearing the case. As such, the issue should be phrased as a question and should pertain to the legal matter at the heart of the case.

4. Ruling. The ruling refers to how the court answered the question identified as the issue. Typically, but not always, as simple yes or no will suffice to answer the issue question. If yes or no is not enough to answer the question clearly, some more information can be provided. But, as will be seen next, the following section contains more information regarding the ruling. In addition, for cases heard on appeal, it is frequently advisable to include the effect of the briefed opinion on the lower courts’ rulings, such as affirmed, reversed, or remanded.

5. Analysis/Reasons. The reasons section elaborates upon why the court made the ruling that it did regarding the issue. To be helpful, the ruling section should be kept brief and should contain what are the substantive legal reasons given for why the court ruled the way that it did. If there were any concurring or dissenting opinions, the reasons given in these other opinions should also be addressed in this section.

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6. Conclusion. The end result as stated by the Court and or Jury. Who won? Who lost? What were the damages (civil)? What was the sentence (criminal)? The following is an example of a case brief to demonstrate what is typically included in a brief.

Morse v. Frederick Supreme Court of the United States, 2007. 127 S.Ct. 2618, 168 L.Ed.2d. 290.

Facts: Morse, the principal of a high school in Alaska, allowed the students to stand outside the school to watch as the Olympic torch was carried past the high school in 2002. At this school-sanctioned and school-supervised event, several students held up a banner containing the phrase, “BONG HiTS 4 JESUS.” Morse, thinking the banner advocated illegal drug use, following school policy against messages that are pro-drug use, told the students to take the banner down. Frederick, one of the students with the banner, refused, and was subsequently suspended. The superintendent and the school board both supported the principal’s actions. Frederick sued Morse, arguing Morse violated Frederick’s First Amendment right to free speech. The District Court ruled in favor of Morse, saying no First Amendment violation occurred. Frederick appealed and the Ninth Circuit reversed the decision. The Ninth Circuit agreed that the activity was school-authorized and that the message was pro-marijuana use. However, the Ninth Circuit argued that the school did not demonstrate that Frederick’s speech threatened a substantial disruption, and thus his First Amendment right was violated. Morse then appealed to the Supreme Court.

Issue: Did Morse’s actions requiring Frederick to take down the banner and then suspending Frederick for his refusal violate Frederick’s First Amendment right to free speech?

Ruling: No, Frederick’s First Amendment right to free speech was not violated. The Ninth Circuit’s opinion was reversed and remanded in favor of Morse.

Analysis/Reasons: The Supreme Court reasoned that Frederick’s speech is properly understood as school speech, as it was at a school-sanctioned event, during school hours, on and immediately off school property. As a school speech case, the school is allowed to limit speech in ways they could not were it not a school event, which limits Frederick’s speech rights preventing his unfurling of a banner supporting drug use in blatant violation of school policy. The pro-drug message was clear, and no reasonable interpretation exists for what the banner meant other than support illegal drug use. The pro-drug message, which was against school policy was not required by Tinker v. Des Moines, 393 U.S. 503, to involve a substantial disruption, as was argued in Bethel School Dist. No 403 v. Fraser, 478 U.S. 675. Furthermore, in accordance with the importance of preventing school aged children from engaging in illegal substance use, the school was well within its power to suspend Frederick for promoting drug use via his banner. The right to free
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speech is not lost when children enter school, but the nature of permissible speech, per the ruling in Fraser, changes.

Justice Thomas concurred with Alito joining, and Breyer joining in part. Justice Thomas argues that the decision in Tinker that offered students protection for some speech in school has been chipped away, and even worse, lacks constitutional grounding. As such, Thomas claims Tinker should be overturned and that there is no constitutional basis for free speech for students in public schools.

Justice Alito concurred, with Justice Kennedy joining. Alito states he agrees with the majority opinion, so long as the opinion is understood to be limited to preventing student speech advocating drug use. In addition, Alito wants the majority opinion to be understood as not impinging upon students’ right to comment on political or social issues, including arguments about the wisdom of the war on drugs or the criminalization of certain drugs. Alito argues his opinion is consistent with pre-existing case law, including Tinker. Students have a right to political speech and social commentary, but they do not have a right to advocate drug use in public schools.

Justice Stevens dissented, with Justices Souter and Ginsburg, and with Justice Breyer joining in part. Stevens argues the Court erred in deciding to rule based on First Amendment issues. Instead, Stevens claims Frederick’s suit should have been dismissed due to qualified immunity, and the First Amendment issue should have remained unaddressed in this case. Stevens feels the danger of a misinterpretation of the Court’s ruling is very real, and the case did not lend itself to clear analysis and ruling based on First Amendment principles. For Stevens, the Court should have been more careful in ruling, as it is not hard to see other courts’ using the present ruling to limit student speech well beyond what the Court intended. At no point do the dissenting justices question the Court’s ultimate ruling, just the legal reasons for the ruling. Stevens, along with Souter and Ginsburg, argue the banner was nonsensical simply meant to get on television, making the tv cameras and not the other students, the recipients of the message. Accordingly, it is wrong to make a First Amendment issue out of what was not a meaningful message at all, but simply a ploy for attention. Qualified immunity case law presents more than enough basis for finding Frederick’s case is groundless and would have prevented the Court from setting a potentially dangerous and erroneous precedent.

Conclusion: reversed and remanded. “The judgment of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit is reversed, and the case is remanded for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.

See also: http://www.uscourts.gov/educational-resources/educational-activities/facts-andcase-summary-morse-v-frederick; http://www.uscourts.gov/educationalresources/educational-activities/facts-and-case-summary-morse-v-frederick

Note: You must find the case in its entirety not just the summary. See https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/06pdf/06-278.pdf – slip opinion

Select ONE of the CBRN categories, then pick ONE particular agent from that category and based on our readings this term, place yourself in the role of a terrorist and offer your perspective of how a terrorist event could be conducted in your hometown, then provide your perspective on how to prevent such an attack and support your work by a variety of academic material to give your opinion more validity.

Your essay should approximately 5 pages. You will need to have a cover page or the reference page; however, they are NOT included in the page count for your essay. All references should be cited using APA format. Be sure to make a clear thesis statement and argument and use examples to support your analysis. Papers should be double spaced.

No abstract is required.

Points will be deducted for the use of Wikipedia or encyclopedic type sources. It is highly advised to utilize: books, peer reviewed journals, articles, archived documents, etc. and valid web sites (use caution with these).

Save your work as a Microsoft Word document entitled ‘YourLastNamewk8.doc’ (i.e., Smith1.doc) and upload this document as your assignment.

Your work should consist of (I encourage you to even use these as headings if you would like):

Introduction (this will have a well-defined purpose statement in your intro paragraph that provides guidance to the reader about what you are going to cover in your paper.)
Selected CBRN Agent background
Proposed Terrorist Scenario
Prevention Strategy(s)
Conclusion
Works Cited

STYLE AND CONVENTION:

All written submissions should be submitted in a font and page set-up that is readable and neat. Students will follow the APA 6 Style as the sole citation and reference style used in written work submitted as part of coursework. See http://www.apus.edu/content/dam/online-library/resources-services/Fuson_2012_APA.pdf.

All written submissions should be submitted in Times New Roman 12pt font with 1” margins, typewritten in double-spaced format. Collegiate-level work is expected to be free of grammar, usage, and style errors.

If you have any questions about this process, please contact me.

The assignment must follow APA guidelines and be free of typographical, spelling and grammatical errors. Compliance with the above directions, quality of your analysis, and the SSGS Assignment Rubric for 100-200 Level Classes will be used to evaluate this assignment.

5–7 slides, excluding title and reference slides, and speaker notes of 200–250 words per slide.

Your organization is building a new plant in the southwestern United States. This is the first time that a human resources professional will be part of the design team that is establishing the new personnel systems for the plant. You expect your candidates to be very diverse in their backgrounds and experience levels.

The plant director has asked you to focus on how you will develop the newly hired personnel into a strong team that crosses organizational boundaries within the plant. Prepare a presentation that addresses the following elements of a diverse workforce:

How will you determine whether the candidates are a fit for the team?
Discuss your design for a cross-functional training program that aligns strategic plant goals with each work group.
Identify the training topics that you will use to foster diversity, intergroup relationships, and productivity within the plant.

Tasks:
1. Choose a theory that finds practical application in critical care/pediatric/psychiatric nursing and discuss the origins of the theory based on the following criteria:
• How did the happenings of the nursing profession impact the origin of this theory?
• What values, evidence, or existing knowledge did the theorist cite to support the theory?
• What was the theorist’s motivation behind writing the theory?

2. Compare the nursing philosophy of Benner and Henderson on the basis of the following criteria.
• Main ideas of the theory
• Main concepts
• Relationships between concepts
• How different concepts affect each other
Cite an example or case study from your field where both these philosophies find practical utility.

Read the articles:

1) The Boomerang effect.

http://www.economist.com/node/21552898

2) Comparative Advantage and American Jobs.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703555804576102500952966450.html

In your initial response to the topic you have to answer both questions:

1) How can government protection of one domestic industry through tariffs or quotas harm another? Please explain and give an example of how a specific government action might both help a specific domestic industry and hurt another specific domestic industry.

2) Why does comparative advantage matter more than absolute advantage for trade? Please explain.

3) Reflection – the students also should include a paragraph in the initial response in their own words reflecting on specifically what they learned from the assignment and how they think they could apply what they learned in the workplace.

Within the Discussion Board area, write 400–600 words that respond to the following questions with your thoughts, ideas, and comments. This will be the foundation for future discussions by your classmates. Be substantive and clear, and use examples to reinforce your ideas:

Dispute settlement is the focus of the World Trade Organization (WTO) and the way that the organization keeps the global economy stable.

What is the WTO, and what is its history?
What are the benefits of being a member of the WTO?
What are the disadvantages?
How does it settle disputes?
Choose a recent dispute between 2 countries, and discuss it with your peers. Include the following:

Summary of what happened
How it was resolved
Role played by the WTO
Do you agree with the resolution?

Details:

Review your state public health department and environmental quality departments online to identify vector-related diseases affecting your community.

NOTE: My State is Texas

In a report format of 1,250-1,500 words, address the following:
1.Describe the health concerns of the community.
2.Identify current environmental risk assessment methods which apply to public health issues.
3.Suggest a modifier or new prevention or intervention program based on your research.
4.Create a sample program budget.
5.Complete a SWOT analysis of the proposed program.

This assignment uses a rubric. Please review the rubric prior to beginning the assignment to become familiar with the expectations for successful completion.
NOTE: I will attach the rubric

You are required to submit this assignment to Turnitin.

Project 2-Informational Page1. Rough Draft- MUST BE FULL CONTENT VERSION.2.Final Draft-2 pages maximum (including visuals)3.You should NOT need to or actually use outside sources for the content. You should know enough about your topic to write without accessing outside content sources; however, you might need to use images from sources. Make sure you title them and cite them following MLA citation guidelines and include a Works Cited page.Assignment Guidelines: “[C]reate an informational page addressed to some specific set of readers. Use tables or charts, mix diagrams with words, or use other ways of presenting information visually to achieve your communication objectives” (Anderson 618). . . . When planning your informational page, think carefully about how your readers will use your information and about how you can use graphics to make the facts you present as accessible, understandable, and useful as possible. Sample ideas: An explanation of a basic concept in your major, addressed to students who have just begun course work in it.

Write a 1,200-1,500 word analysis of “Case Study: Healing and Autonomy.” In light of the readings, be sure to address the following questions:

Under the Christian narrative and Christian vision, what sorts of issues are most pressing in this case study?
Should the physician allow Mike to continue making decisions that seem to him to be irrational and harmful to James?
According to the Christian narrative and the discussion of the issues of treatment refusal, patient autonomy, and organ donation in the topic readings, how might one analyze this case?
According to the topic readings and lecture, how ought the Christian think about sickness and health? What should Mike as a Christian do? How should he reason about trusting God and treating James?
Prepare this assignment according to the guidelines found in the APA Style. An abstract is not required.

This assignment uses a rubric. Please review the rubric prior to beginning the assignment to become familiar with the expectations for successful completion.

You are required to submit this assignment to Turnitin.

I. I. Introduction
a. a. What claim are you investigating:_Spanking is not the best alternative for disciplining children.
b. b. What is the counter argument to this claim?_Spanking children is good for their discipline.
c. c. Who is making this claim? A wide variety of people (parents, grandparents etc)
d. d. What other parties are interested in this claim? Parents, psychologist, doctors, etc.
e. II. Information
f. a. What types of information has been transmitted about this claim?
i. i. Supporting detail 1:__Spanking can lead to trauma ____________________________________________
ii. ii. Supporting detail 2: Spanking can lead to aggression
iii.
iv. iii. Supporting detail 3: Spanking doesn’t get kids to comply.
g. b. Does the claim conflict with your personal observations and background information? The claim that spanking is not the best alternative for disciplining children doesn’t conflict with my observation because I believe there are better ways to discipline.
h. III. Rhetoric and Fallacies
i. a. What rhetoric and fallacies are used with respect to this claim?
i. i. Supporting detail 1: Many psychological studies show that spanking is an improper form of discipline.
ii. ii. Supporting detail 2 : Physical punishment is harmful to a child.
iii. iii. Supporting detail: Physical punishment establishes the moral righteousness of hitting other persons who do something which is regarded as wrong.
iv. IV. Research
j. a. Are there any scientific findings about this claim?
i. i. Supporting detail 1: Spanking does not work as a form of punishment
ii. ii. Supporting detail 2: It is better that caregivers reduce and potentially eliminate their use of any physical punishment as a disciplinary method
k. b. What are the best ways to assess the probabilities of this claim?
i. i. Supporting detail 1: Showing the results of research.
ii. ii. Supporting detail 2: Proving statements.
iii. iii. Supporting detail 3: Showing the effect of spanking in children after a while.
iv. V. Conclusion
l. a. What are your conclusions about your claim? I believe that spanking should not be used or tolerated from anybody when it comes to children. There are many different and educational ways to teach a child how to behave and spanking should not be one of them.