GBA 335 Case Brief 1 Guidelines and Rubric

How and Why to Brief a Law Case
Prof. Joseph Little, Jr., Saint Leo University

Purpose
The purpose of reading in the practice of law is different from the purpose of reading in many other
disciplines. In law, you read not just to familiarize yourself with someone else’s ideas but to be able to use
the information to answer a question. This requires understanding judicial opinions in depth and being
able to use the information in a number of cases to formulate an answer to a new question. Therefore,
passively reading cases is not sufficient; you must deconstruct the opinion into its component parts and
state those components in your own words and in an easily accessible format. Then the information is at
hand for you to apply to a new set of facts.

Briefing a case requires you to put the material into your own words. To do this, you have to understand
it. Underlining text does not require you to understand it. Moreover, briefing a case reduces the volume of
material so you can find what you need. Underlining does not accomplish this goal either.

Assignment
You will complete a brief on the following case and submit it to the Dropbox no later than Sunday 11:59
PM EST/EDT of Module 4:

Brady v. National Football League, 640 F.3D 785 (2011)

Instructions
Every lawyer briefs cases differently. A case brief generally consists of a series of topic headings with the
specific information from the case under each heading. Most case briefs contain similar information but
the headings and their sequence may be different. Some professors have a preferred briefing format. You
are only required to follow the general format as set forth below.

The following is adapted from A Practical Guide to Legal Writing and Legal Method (Dernbach, et al.,
2007).

1. Case name: Include the full citation, including the date of the opinion, for future reference and

citation. An example would be as follows: State v. Holloran, 140 NH 563 (1995). Refer to Bluebook to
determine the correct name for the case.

2. Pincites: Include pinpoint cites (cites to a particular page in the case) throughout the case brief so

you can find material again quickly within a case.

3. Procedural History: What happened to the case before it arrived in this court? If it is an appellate

case, list the decisions made by the lower court(s) and note what decision is being reviewed (e.g.,
jury verdict, summary judgment). You may need to look up procedural phrases with which you are
unfamiliar.

4. Facts: Include only the facts that were relevant to the court’s decision. You are unlikely to know what

these are until you have read the entire opinion. Many cases may include procedural facts that are
relevant to the decision in addition to the facts that happened before litigation.

5. Issue: The particular question the court had to decide in this case. It usually includes specific facts as

well as a legal question. It may be expressed or implied in the decision. Cases may have more than
one issue.

6. Holding/Decision: The legal answer to the issue. If the issue is clearly written, then the holding can

be expressed as “yes” or “no.” (Be careful not to confuse the holding with implicit reasoning. See # 8
below.)

7. Rule: The general legal principle(s) relevant to the particular factual situation presented in the case.

8. Reasoning: The logical steps the court takes to arrive at the holding. It can be straightforward and

obvious, or you may have to extrapolate it from the holding. Some reasoning is based on social
policy, which tells you why the holding is socially desirable. Understanding the reasoning behind a
decision is essential.

9. Disposition: A statement of what the court actually did in the case (affirmed, overruled, etc.)

10. Dissent/Concurrence: Although this part of the opinion is not considered law, it may help you better

understand some information about the legal reasoning in the case. Not all cases have a dissent or
concurrence, while some may have more than one.

11. Comments: Include your own responses to the case here. For example, does the reasoning make

sense? Is the holding consistent with other cases you have read? Is the case relevant to the question
you are trying to answer? This is a good place to note connections between the case you are briefing
and other cases you have read.

Sample Case Brief
Remember, most case briefs contain similar information but the headings and their sequence may be
different than what is outlined above. You should include in your brief all elements that you deem
necessary whether or not they are included in the sample below.

Name
Luke Records, Inc. v. Navarro, 960 F.2d 134 (11th Cir. 1992)

Procedural History
Appealed from the trial court decision.

Facts
Luke Records, Inc., a recording label, held a contract with the musical group 2 Live Crew. This group
was well known in the genre of “Rap” music, which has repeatedly been accused of incorporating
“obscene” lyrics into the music. Obscene, in this sense, pertains only to the legal definition of
obscenity, not what any particular person or moral code may deem obscene. Luke Records, Inc. was
a Florida Corporation and Nick Navarro was the sheriff of Broward County at the time. The sheriff
obtained an ex-parte injunction (this means an injunction without both parties being present at the
initial hearing) granting the sheriff an injunction (a court order to “stop” doing a particular act). This
injunction was served on local record stores in an effort to have the music removed from Florida retail
sale. After the local Florida Circuit Court in Broward County issued the injunction, the decision was
appealed to the United States District Court for Southern Florida where the Court ordered the sheriff
to stop enforcing the injunction, but did, in fact, rule that the music was obscene, especially the song
“As Nasty As They Wanna Be.” The sheriff appealed the case to the United States Court of Appeals,
11th Circuit, in Atlanta.

Issue
Is this music obscene under Florida state law and/or federal Constitution?

Holding/Decision
No

Rule
Obscenity must meet three part rule. Based on Supreme Court case Miller v. CA. All three parts must
be met:

(a) whether “the average person, applying contemporary community standards” would find that
the work, taken as a whole, appeals to the prurient interest;

(b) whether the work depicts or describes, in a patently offensive way, sexual conduct
specifically defined by the applicable state law; and

(c) whether the work, taken as a whole, lacks serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value.

Reasoning
The burden of proof could be clear and convincing or preponderance of the evidence test: however,
at the time the sheriff was granted the music, he offered nothing into evidence except a tape of the
music played before the court. There was no additional evidence presented that showed an average
person applying contemporary community standards would find the song appealing only to a prurient
interest. Further, the sheriff failed to prove part (b) and (c) of the test as well simply because he made
no attempt to enter any other testimony or evidence into consideration before the court. The sheriff
failed to meet his burden, although it is well possible that had he submitted all evidence as required,
he could possibly have met the test.

Comments
Case really determined by the sheriff’s failure of proof. No discussion of nature of music. No
discussion of rule. No proper evidence submitted to the court.

WestLaw
To complete the assignment, you will need to first locate the case in the WestLaw database through the
Saint Leo University Online Library. Follow the steps below and contact the university library directly if you
have any technical difficulty (see the syllabus for contact info). Do not contact the eCollege Help Desk. If
you have access to a local law library, feel free to obtain copies of the assigned cases there instead.

1. Log on to the Saint Leo Portal at http://my.saintleo.edu.
2. Click Library at the top of My Saint Leo Home page.
3. Click Databases under FIND INFO.
4. A new browser window will open. Click WestLaw from the list of databases (you may need to scroll

down). Note: As long as you are logged on to My Saint Leo, you will not need to enter a separate
password for WestLaw. If you are not logged on to the portal, you will be prompted to logon (use your
portal UD and password).

5. Search for the case by entering the case name as your search terms. You can use any of the search
tools available, though the simplest may be “Find a document by title” under Shortcuts. This allows
you to enter the names of the parties in the case. For example, to search for Brown v. Board of
Education, you would type “Brown” in the first text box and “Board of Education” in the second text
box.

6. Click Go after entering the names of the parties.
7. The case documentation will display once the search completes. If the search is unsuccessful, check

that you entered the names of the parties correctly. You are encouraged to print a copy of the case to
better assist you in completing the assignment.

Scoring Rubric
Students will complete the assignment with attention to the following criteria:

Rating Scale Exemplary: Corresponds to an A- to A (90-100%)

Proficient: Corresponds to a B- to B+ (80-89%)
Basic: Corresponds to a C- to C+ (70-79%)
Novice: Corresponds to a D to D+ (60-69%)
Not Attempted: Corresponds to an F (0-59%)

Elements

Criteria

Score

Not Attempted
(Criterion is

missing or not in
evidence)

0-14.99%

Novice
(does not meet
expectations;

performance is
substandard)

15-17.49%

Basic
(works towards

meeting
expectations;

performance needs
improvement)
17.5-19.99%

Proficient
(meets

expectations;
performance is

satisfactory)

20-22.49%

Exemplary
(exceeds

expectations;
performance is

outstanding)

22.5-25

Case Name
Citation and
Procedural
History
25%

There was little
or no evidence of
proper citation of
the case and
procedural
history.

Case citation and
procedural history
is evident, but the
citations are
incorrect as to
form, spelling,
numeric
correctness or the
essential
procedural history
of the case is
incomplete.

The case brief
addresses most,
but not all, of parts
of the citation and
history, but the
procedural history
is out of sequence
or difficult to
discern or minor
formatting or
spelling errors have
occurred.

The case brief
addresses all parts
of the citation and
procedural history
in full, but same is
not entirely clear or
straight-forward.

The case brief
citation and
procedural history
are correct and
adequately
addresses all parts
of clearly and in
proper
chronological
sequence.

__/25

Length
Requirements
25%

There was little
or no evidence of
a case brief.

The case brief is
entirely too short.

The case brief
contains a great
deal of “fluff” and
still does not meet
the length
requirement.

The case brief is
just a little on the
short side and/or it
meets the
requirements only
because it contains
“fluff” that could use
trimming.

The case brief falls
within the required
length
requirements
without going over
and without
straying from the
main topic.

__/25

Mechanics of
Writing
25%

Little to no
evidence of
proper writing
mechanics.

The grammar of the
case brief greatly
impedes
understanding of
content, and/or the
paper contains no
citations.

The case brief
needs a good deal
of improvement
with respect to
grammar, citations,
spelling, and/or
style.

The case brief is
mostly free of
errors with respect
to grammar,
citations, spelling,
and/or style, but
needs some
improvement in this
area.

The case brief is
nearly perfect with
respect to
grammar, citations,
spelling, and style. __/25

Understanding
25%

The case brief
exhibits a
complete lack of
understanding of
the text and/or
course materials.

The case brief
exhibits very little
understanding of
the text and/or
course materials.

The case brief
exhibits basic
understanding of
the text and/or
course materials,
but needs
improvement in this
area.

The case brief
exhibits sufficient
understanding of
the text and/or
course materials,
but some
improvement
needed.

The case brief does
an excellent job
demonstrating an
accurate
understanding of
the text and/or
course materials.

__/25

Total Score: ____/100

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