How to Read a Case

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When reading a case, look for these:

Facts of the case

• why are we here
• what is the story

Procedural posture

“what court are we in, what kind of judge are we talking about”

• trial judge
• appellate court

Holding/dicta

Holding: exactly what the court said in order to resolve the dispute in front of it

• important bc it binds future cases

Dicta: other text that is extraneous in nature

• not binding

Issues of precedent

• figured out the holding of the case, what are other cases going to have to follow

Facts important to holding/how holding applies to a new fact pattern

• what facts are important to the holding, what are extraneous
• “what if i changed this fact?”
• “how would this case apply to a new fact pattern?”

Where case fits into course overall

important text

Briefing a case

• this means taking notes on a case
• meant to summarize so you can answer questions in class