One way to locate the court opinion for this case is to use the Lexis Nexis Data Base in the UMUC Online Library. You may also try using Google Scholar or law.justia.com. You will prepare a case law summary using the Issue, Rule, Analysis and Conclusion (IRAC) method. You are summarizing the case. Here is a resource: http://www.lawschoolsurvival.org/index.php/legal-writing/the-irac-method
This assignment does not require critical thinking or analysis on your part. The objective is to learn how court opinions are written. Your memo should be 2 pages in length, single spaced, using a Times New Roman 12-point font. Do not include an abstract or title page. Your paper must include headings and content for the following sections. This case law summary is worth 5 percentage points.
• Section One: Facts (Summarize only the most important facts that support the Court’s Ruling)
• Section Two: Issue (This should be a “yes or no question”). What are the questions or issues that are trying to be resolved in this case?
• Section Three: Rule(s) – what is/are the law(s) or rule(s) that the court uses to make its decision?
• Section Four: The Court’s Application of the rules to the facts of this case. (Explain the judge’s reasons for the ruling. Why do the rules apply/not apply in this case?)
• Section Five: Conclusion – What is the final outcome of the case? This includes the ruling of the court and any other actions to be taken regarding the case. (Remand, dismissal, etc.).
Use legal citations as appropriate. The 6th edition of the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (2010) outlines the citation style for legal materials in the Appendix to Chapter 7 (pp. 216 – 224). For court decisions, statutes, codes and other legal publications, APA uses the formats outlined in The Bluebook: A Uniform System of Citation. (California and federal sources). See: https://library.csustan.edu/apalegal
Remember that the task is to write a summary of the case – which is why they are called “briefs”, they would be relatively short compared to the actual case’s holding. The objective is to get you all to practice how to read and extrapolate the key information from a case holding, which, as you will see, can be VERY long and dragged out.
You do not need to analyze the ruling or the law to state whether it is correct/incorrect or you agree/disagree, just summarize what the issues were in the case and what were the court’s decisions. Begin with summarizing the facts of the case, then move on to IRAC.
I – issue – what is the question(s) or issue(s) that the court is tasked with deciding? What brought the parties to court?
R – rule – what is the law(s) that the court relies on to make their decision?
A – application – how does the court apply the rule (the law) in this specific case? How does the court explain who the rule fits the facts of this case?
C – conclusion – What was the final decision (holding) of the court, based on the rule and application?
You are supposed to “IRAC” each issue in the case holding. So, if the court had to decide numerous issues, or questions, then you IRAC the holding for each issue they decided.
Be careful not to “editorialize” when writing your brief. This means to make sure you are not using words that imply an opinion or bias about the facts or the outcome of the case. Examples are “Sadly, Ms. Smith died.” or “Dr. Monahan failed to screen her properly…”