Every successful law student must learn the fine art of briefing legal cases. I call this an art because there is no set method of case briefing that works for everyone. You must choose the method that works best for you. A legal case brief is not a legal brief in the practice sense. It is merely a concise and coherent synopsis of the case you are studying.

There are basically two ways to brief a legal case for class: (1) paper briefing and (2) book briefing. Many consider paper briefing to be the more difficult of the two because it involves organizing the relevant parts of the brief on paper after you have read the case and made notes. A paper brief should contain the issue, relevant facts, reasoning, rule of law, etc… and should not be more than one page, even if your case is 20 pages long. If your brief is more than one page then you probably do not (generally) have a firm grasp on the material and what you are supposed to glean from it. Condensing a long brief down to one page can take considerable effort at times. And as all of us non-traditional law students know, time is a valuable commodity in high demand and short supply.

Book briefing is considered to be quicker and easier because you simply underline or highlight the relevant parts of the case and perhaps make a few notes in the margin. You do not need to take time writing out a separate paper and making revisions. However, the simplicity of a book brief can be deceiving, and most law schools do not recommend it at all during the first year and discourage it even after that. Book briefing can be quicker and easier if you really know what you are doing and what information you really need to know. If you are underlining every other sentence then you do not know what you are doing. One trap you want to avoid (especially on a long case) is thinking that if you have not underlined enough then you have not found everything you need to. This is rarely the case.

Most opinions are filled with dictum. The actual relevant points of law, facts, and reasoning that should comprise the bulk of your case brief are often short, concise and buried. Your job is to filter through everything and separate the relevant points from the rest of the opinion. Some professors will expect you to know huge amounts about the case, but most are looking to see if you actually understand why the case is in the book.

While some briefing methods are advocated more than others, the thing to remember is the basic purpose of the briefing process itself; to learn about the law. Choose the method for your legal case briefing that enables you to learn the concepts you are trying to learn in the most efficient and effective manner and stick with it. Remember, you are not only trying not to be embarrassed if the professor calls on you in class, but you are also preparing yourself for the bar exam.