This is the most critical part of the entire case brief.  Every year my professors give a small speech just before exams about how many students would have had an “A” paper but for the fact that they left out a critical component . . . the analysis of the issue!  The analysis is the “meat” of the court’s decision.  It is the reason that the court decided the way it did.  Other terms include rationale and reasoning.

As a non-traditional law student with six children I have often provided the age-old response when my kids question something I said.  “Because!”  This may work with children (yeah right), but it will not work with courts.  People want – and indeed need – to know why the court decided the way it did.  It ads veracity to the opinion and indicates that the opinion has its basis in something more than just a judge’s whim.

So, what is the analysis and how to you integrate it into your brief?  The analysis is the process the court used to apply the law to the facts.  Reasonable persons may differ in the application of the law, but if those persons can articulate their reasons in a compelling manner, others will have a firm grasp on why they opined the way they did.  It is of utmost importance to understand why the court ruled a certain way and why any dissenters disagreed.  The court’s opinion becomes the law (appeals aside) and it would behoove you to know why the law is what it is.  Let’s look again at John and Mary.

Suppose that John’s snide remark and the fact that his girlfriend just dumped him satisfied the court that he intentionally kicked Mary’s crutch.  Yeah, so what.  Just saying that seems pretty empty.  The real question is why do those facts satisfy the court that the requisite intent was there?  In the opinion (if this were a real case) the court would go on to explain why these facts show that John acted intentionally.  Sometimes it is not always easy to determine what the court was thinking, and you must re-read the opinion a few times to see it.  Sometimes (as dissenters often point out) the court will not give a satisfactory reason for its decision.  Nonetheless, whatever reasons it gives are the reasons you must put in the analysis section of your brief.

Courts put a lot of thought into opinions and generally everything in those opinions is there for a reason.  Always be thinking why the court is deciding the issue this way when you are reading.  Don’t get caught in the trap of substituting your own reasoning for that of the court.  Even if you are right, you are not the judge.  The analysis is that of the court, not you.

In closing:

• The analysis is the methodical way the court applies the law to the facts.
• It gives the reasoning for the way it chose to apply the law to a particular set of facts.
• You are looking for the way the court analyzed the case and not the way you perhaps would have.
• If you still wonder why the court decided the issue in a particular way then you don’t have a firm grasp on the analysis of the case yet.

The reasoning and analysis of the courts are what you will be drawing from when you are actually in practice.  Pay close attention to the details and understand why a court ruled the way it did.