Author Question: Describe how to brief a case. Why do legal professionals brief ... (Read 59 times)

bcretired · **on:** Aug 3, 2018

Describe how to brief a case.

Why do legal professionals brief cases?

Question 2

New York v. Quarles, 467 U.S. 649 (1984), is a citation to a case. Identify the parts of the citation.

Explain how they help you to locate a case.

cassie_ragen · **Reply #1 on:** Aug 3, 2018

Answer to Question 1

A case is briefed by organizing the material in the court's opinion into the following categories:

Case citationGive the full citation for the case including the name of the case, the date of decision, and the name of the court deciding the case.
FactsBriefly indicate: The reasons for the lawsuit. The identity and arguments of the plaintiffs and defendants.
ProcedureSummarize the judicial history of the case.
IssueState in the form of a question the essential legal issue(s) before the
court.
DecisionIndicate the court's decision on the issues.
ReasonSummarize as briefly as possible the court's reasoning on the issues.
HoldingState the rules of law for which the case stands.
After a paralegal has read and analyzed a case, he may decide that it is on point and may want to include a reference to it in his research findings. If so, the paralegal summarizes for later use the important facts and issues in the case, as well as the court's decision, or holding, and the reasoning used by the court.

Answer to Question 2

The parts of the case citation are as follows:

The case nameNew York v. Quarles.The volume number467.
The reporter abbreviationU.S.
The page number of the reporter649.
The year of the decision(1984).

The case citation helps a researcher to locate cases by giving a specific reporter, its volume number, and the page within the volume on which the case is found.