“Administrative Case Briefs”
(Briefing Court Cases for Class)
This is how we will brief cases for our use and purposes in class. It lacks some of the aspects and legal nuances law students and paralegals incorporate into case briefs, but it will suffice for our practical use. The overall purpose is to communicate, through the brief, useful information that might be helpful to administrators.
Before Briefing the Case
Read the case. Read the opinion all the way through before beginning your brief to get a basic understanding of what happened, how the case got to the particular court, and what the court ruled.
Make note of the plaintiffs and defendants, as well as whether it was a criminal or a civil suit. If one citizen has taken another (including a university/institution or business – private or public) to court, then it is a civil suit. If the government is seeking prosecution, it is more than likely a criminal case.
Learn the procedural history of the case. Is the court listed the first to hear the case or is the court the Court of Appeal? (Most cases reviewed in class will be cases heard on appeal.) Which court decided what (original court & appeals court)? Determine which party appealed the ruling.
Components of Our Administrative Case Briefs
Your Name
Date
Case Title and Full Citation
The name of the case and the full citation should be first in any case brief. The citation includes the date and information about the court that the case passed through (see other reference material). Be sure that your citation includes the year of the decision and the Court that rendered it. You are expected to provide the case name and its citation properly and appropriately.
Facts:
Summarize the facts of the case by briefly describing what happened that led to the parties being in court. In order to be brief, you will need to decide which facts are legally relevant and which are not. Think about whom, what, and how. Who did something, what did he or she do, and how did he or she end up in Court over it? These questions should all be answered in your summary of facts in this section. "The Defendant walked into the 29th Street Liquor Store, pointed a gun at the cashier, and demanded money. He was arrested 3 blocks from the store, with the cash in his pocket.” Although legal jargon cannot be avoided, remember that this is an “Administrative Brief” so you are writing to communicate to practicing administrators so write clearly and in a manner practitioners will understand.
Issues:
Identify the issue or issues. What is the question before the Court? You should state the issue(s) as a question in your brief. For example, the question might be “Did the campus police have a right to search the Defendant’s office on campus?” Your issue statement should also include the specific facts relevant to that issue, for example, “Did the campus police have a right to search the Defendant’s office on campus when he was not present and did not give consent?” When there is more than one issue, each issue should be stated separately in your brief.
Also include the applicable rule of law. What rule, statute, or ordinance must the court interpret to make this decision? For example, in the case of a search of the Defendant’s office, which may or may not be legal, if the search was conducted on a public university, the applicable law might be the Fourth Amendment (search and seizure) to the United States Constitution. If more than one rule of law was used, state each of them separately.
Again, remember your audience and the manner you are using the brief. Keep it as clear, simple and basic for our purposes, including the fact that you might need to potentially and effectively communicating the issues to the class.
Decision:
State the decision of the court hearing the case. Also called the holding, this is the Court’s answer to the issue question. The holding should be stated as a yes or no answer, with an additional sentence or two to explain the legal principle upon which the Court relied when reaching that decision. For example, if the issue is “Did the campus police have a right to search the Defendant’s office on campus when he was not present and did not give consent?” the holding (decision) of the court might be, “Yes. The Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution does not provide the same protection to a office that an employee uses as a public university that it does to a private home, and a warrantless search was justified.” This section is very brief; it’s just the decision stated in an informative manner.
Analysis:
Describe how the Court arrived at its decision. What facts did it consider and how did it apply the law to those facts? Walk other administrators through the Court’s reasoning, one-step at a time. Why the Court ruled the way it did is the most important part of the case, and the reader must be able to understand it by reading your brief, instead of the case.
Administrative Application:
This is a section that is not included in typical case briefs, but is added to help constitute our “Administrative Case Brief.” This section gives you an opportunity to bridge the case to the practical. One very basic question you could ask to address this section is “What are some practical ‘take-aways’ this case offers to administrators who wish to reduce or eliminate the risks of finding themselves in a similar legal matter?
Tips: