Case Reading

Most first-year law school reading is from casebooks, compilations of appellate course decisions, assigned by your professors as the course textbook.

The How of Reading Cases

Read the quick info below and, when you are enrolled, use your Touro login for CALI to get special access to detailed lessons on case reading and case briefing  

1. “Prep” the case

• Before you begin reading, establish a framework for new material by identifying the
  general topic that the case is about.
  
  
• Place the case in context from your syllabus and your casebook table of contents
  Read a bit about the general area the case fits into by reading about the topic in a hornbook. (A hornbook is like a bit like a college textbook, providing a comprehensive summary of the law in a particular subject. Touro Law Center purchases subscriptions so that once you are enrolled you will have free access to these publications.

2. Pre-read the case
a. Look for organizational clues

• How long is it?
• How is the opinion organized?
• Are there headings to the opinion’s organization or main points? Is there a dissent?

b. Skim for textual clues?

• Are there key phrases: “it is important,” “the rule is well-established,” “there is a two-part test”?

3. Read actively

Place yourself in context - who, what, when, and where

• Identify the parties by their legal relationships (for example, buyer and seller, landlord and tenant, and so forth).
• Note procedural information: which court is deciding the case, what step in the proceedings does this particular course opinion relate to?
• Identify the issue in controversy, the quest the court is deciding.
• What did the parties seek from the court?
• What does resolution of the matter depend on?

Identify the court’s decision before you begin reading to provide focus and context. Then go back and study the relevant facts and the court's rationale for its decision.

Focus on the basics which are easily overlooked in the rush to find the rules:

• What was the disposition of the case? (What happened to the case, i.e. was it sent back to a lower court, dismissed, full resolved?)
• What did the court decide?
• Who “won”?
• What relief did the court grant?

4. Ask questions of the material as you read
Are there terms you do not understand? Look them up in a legal dictionary! (Many words have different meanings in "legalese" than they do in plain English.) Is something not clear to you? If the court’s reasoning seems off, question it. (Write notes to yourself in the margins of your casebook or in your own outline).  If you see a conflict or a result that doesn’t comport with the reasoning, note it. It is likely to show up in class discussion.

5. Read each case with an eye toward its role in the course as w hole

• Learn to ask before your professor does: “why is this case in the book?”
• What does it teach me that I did not know before?
• What does the case add to my understanding of this area of law?”

6. Write notes instead of just highlighting
Try taking actively taking notes, writing thoughts and questions in the margins of your casebook, engaging actively with your reading instead of passively underlying. Develop a system to come back to key points. (Note: some students do find effective ways to actively highlight, such as color coding to sparingly mark key facts in one color and key rules/holdings in another color.)

7. Be patient with yourself; cases are not easy to learn to read
You won’t understand everything the first time around. Don’t get stuck on a particular paragraph. Sometimes a later part of the decision, such as a concurring or dissenting opinion, will shed more light on the issue than the majority opinion. Often, the next opinion in the casebook will also provide helpful context. (Sometimes cases are set out in chronological order tracing the history of a line of decisions.) And, try reading the pages in a hornbook that discuss the case and then go back to the court’s decision.

8. Sum up the case
Force yourself to write a tagline identifier for each case at the top of your brief. This is useful for jogging your memory. For example: “child kicks classmate” (Vosburg) or “five-year-old pulls chair from under woman” (Daily) or “bull charges woman” (Bosley)

More Reading Tips

Understand the structure of your case books:

Chapters in a casebook are arranged according to broad topic areas that illustrate the general principles of the body of law. The first case in a chapter, also known as the "principal case," usually illustrates the broad rule for that section of the book. The main case is then followed by a series of note cases or “squib cases” that show any of the following:

• A refinement of the general rule
• Another application of the rule
• Exceptions to the rule
• Illustrate a different interpretation or application of the same rule
• Policy considerations
• Show a dissenting rule

General points:

• The time factor: Learn how long it takes you to read/brief a case. Develop a “time ruler” so you can allocate your time. Some subjects take more time than others. Some subjects take more time than others. And, remember, the more you read, the more efficient you become. Do not give up! It is hard work, especially at first, and everything in law school takes longer than you think it will.
  
  
• Multiple readings: plan on reading a case through at least twice – once to get a sense of the case, and then again to prepare your written brief.
  
  
• Vocabulary counts. Use your legal dictionary to look up every word you don’t know. You can’t guess at words and figure them out from context. Many words you think you know have special legal meanings.
  
  
• Keep up with assignments and complete them all. Unless told otherwise, read the notes and problems that follow the cases. Professors often use these to pose questions in class so it helps to read and think these before class.

When you are an enrolled Touro Law Center student, you will have many more resources to help you learn to become an expert case reader and case briefer! As noted above, the law school invests in you subscribing to a number of publication and resource services that give you free access to additional materials and lessons to help you every step of the way in your legal education journey. When enrolled, use your Touro login for CALI to get special access to detailed lessons on case reading and case briefing.