5.2 What is a case brief?
A case brief is a concise summary of a judge’s reasons for a decision in a particular case. It is a lawyer’s summary; that is, it is a summary intended to help a lawyer understand the case. This means that the case brief picks out the key things that a lawyer needs to know about the case. It also means that a case brief is likely to be different to how an historian or a psychologist might summarise a case.
To non-lawyers, judges’ reasons for their decisions will often appear to be arcane pieces of writing that are difficult to understand. As a lawyer, you must be able to understand, analyse and use these technical documents. Preparing a case brief is a useful way to unlock the value in a legal judgment.
Generally, a case brief is a neutral or objective summary of the case. It does not provide criticism of the case or an opinion about the merits or demerits of the decision or reasoning. The goal is simply to understand the case in its own, legal terms. There may be occasions where you are asked to provide a critique of a case, or find a way to distinguish it (i.e. not follow it as a precedent), or suggest ways to reform and improve the law as stated in that case. But a case brief as such does not have that purpose. You should assume that if you are asked to write a case brief, it is to be objective and neutral and just focused on the case itself.
Note that terminology can vary, but generally ‘case brief’ and ‘case summary’ are used to refer to this kind of descriptive, informative writing about a legal case. In contrast ‘case note’ is often used to refer to writing about a case that covers much of what a case brief covers but also goes on to provide some analysis. That analysis may involve going deeper into the background, significance or implications of the case and may involve a critical assessment or evaluation of the case. In this way, a case note involves persuasive as well as descriptive writing. In this chapter we are concerned with the more descriptive task. If you are in doubt about which you are being asked to write, always seek confirmation before beginning.
