Why Do Most Law Students Have Anxiety Attacks Over Doing Case Briefs

Doing case briefs gives first year law students the most anxiety. We understand why: (1) Most law students think that the professors are there to actually teach them the law. That is a big mistake; (2) Law students who do case briefs from casebooks actually think that each case stands for what it is used in law school; (3) Virtually all law students, and most lawyers can't read; (4) Virtually all law students and most lawyers and professors can't write and can't use the written word to properly express themselves; and (5) Law students think they will be embarrassed if they don't get the right answer in class when they casebrief.

All the best lawyers know that there are no right answers but only good legal analysis.

Our first bit of case briefs advice is to brief the entire case and get the original version of the case and don't bother to brief the edited version of the case in the casebook. Almost all the cases in every casebook are edited versions of the cases. This is extremely bad in that once a principle of law is introduced to you, you will for the most part never see that principle used again in other cases in the casebook. This is extremely bad because it is really hard to learn something you have seen just once or twice.

We will say it again in case you missed it the first time. We are all for case briefing cases but not necessarily the cases in the casebook. Do casebriefs of the entire case and all the issues and all the concurrences and dissents. If you case brief the entire case you will see a large number of issues over and over and over again and you can easily learn the law after you read about a case or an issue 10-20-30 times. By that time you will absolutely know what it stands for and how to apply the law from that case or the legal issues presented.

On a side note you will be shocked at what is left out of many casebooks and how your view of the law will change when you see the whole case and not just the casebook edition. You must casebrief the entire case.

Why you must do Case briefs.

Doing casebriefs helps the law student understand the case and organize it in a manner so it makes sense. Case briefing helps you learn the application of the law. The more you casebrief the more law you will know how to apply. That is a really great reason to casebrief the entire case and not just the one in the casebook. Also briefing minority opinions almost always gives you a counterargument that you can write on your exams so you will always cover both sides of an issue.

Are Case Briefs important for Exam Performance?

Perfect case briefs are of marginal use for preparing for exams. Case briefs are meant to teach you how to think about the law and to understand the application of complex idiomatic terms. The process is all about thinking about the law. It is a small part in the preparation for exams. Exams require intense memorization and the ability to apply the law to the facts and then dissertate that law in a format that is conducive for easy grading. If you concentrate solely on the application of the law you will not be able to spot most of the issues on an exam or to write about them in a proper format. A good law outline that can be memorized with key words to provoke independent thought on the law is what is vital and not just perfect case briefs.

Case briefing by Book briefing

Book briefing with a highlighter is a big mistake as it destroys the casebook making it impossible to resell back to the bookstore. If you do this do it in pencil. Also if you are book briefing you are not case briefing the entire case. That is a big mistake.

Using canned Case briefs

If you read the entire case you will need to make up for this extra time and you can do this by buying canned case briefs. Don't be stupid and cheap and use free case briefs found on the web. They are always done on the case book version of the case and reflect radical opinions and theories of the law. Most are put on the web by companies who failed at selling them to law students because the case briefs were so bad they couldn't make money.

Canned case briefs are used because they are time savers. You will save time by not having to write the brief. This gives you the extra time to read the entire case and learn what you need to learn about the application of the law. If you are using a digital product you can easily edit and print it and take it to class so if you get called on you have something to say.

Case briefs are not a complete solution to Memorizing the Law.

You must still spend most of your time memorizing the law so you can ask all the questions in order to spot all the issues. Case briefs are not efficient for such memorization. Understanding how to think about the law helps on an exam but it does not help in your need to recall the prima facie case. You need to memorize, apply and dissertate and the while case briefs help a lot with the application of the law they are not a complete solution. If you do perfect case briefs you will still do poorly on your exams. If you add memorization and dissertation to your perfect case briefing you will do extremely well.