Legal Case Method and Reading Cases

During the first year of law school and in many upper-level courses, your professors will use the case method. The assigned readings in your classes will consist largely of cases from the casebook for the course. Rather than reading a textbook description of the law, you will read the opinions that judges have written in actual lawsuits. Although technically the word "case" refers to the lawsuit itself, "case" also is used to refer to the judge's written opinion.

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The case method is a reflection of the importance of judicial decisions in the common-law system. A great deal of the law comes from judicial decisions, and decisions in new cases are based on already decided cases. Therefore, learning to read and to analyze cases is essential. But cases teach more than just legal principles. By learning law in the context of actual lawsuits, you learn how disputes arise, the judicial procedures for resolving them, and available remedies. The case method also makes law come alive. Rather than reading pages of abstract statements of law, the principles are presented more vividly by real problems involving real people.

A case is included in the casebook either because it has been important in the law's development or because it is particularly useful in presenting a particular legal issue. The casebook author will include only the portion of the opinion that is relevant to the issue being studied. Sometimes, the opinion will be from a trial court. More often, however, the opinion will be from an appellate court because appellate courts primarily decide issues of law, which are the main focus of your classes. Trial courts, on the other hand, decide issues of fact and of law. Moreover, when deciding issues of law, trial courts are bound by the precedent of appellate court decisions, so trial court opinions less often include an in-depth examination of a legal issue. Finally, state trial court opinions usually are not published and, therefore, are less readily available to casebook authors.

An important lesson you will learn from reading cases is that more than one answer to a disagreement may exist, as demonstrated by concurring and dissenting opinions. In a concurring opinion, a judge agrees with the majority's decision but disagrees with its reasoning; in a dissenting opinion, a judge disagrees with the decision, too. The judges do not disagree because they cannot understand the law. They simply have different perspectives on how the law should apply. Therefore, do not be surprised or concerned if you disagree with the cases you read. To the contrary, independent and creative analyses of cases and of the governing law are important skills.

Beware! Your professors normally will post reading assignments for the first class session. Find out where assignments are posted, and be sure to buy your casebooks in time to get prepared. Although some professors will lecture on the first day of class, most professors will expect you to be prepared to describe the cases included in the reading assignment and to discuss the legal issues they raise. You will learn much more from class if you have done the reading beforehand.

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Give yourself more time to read the assigned cases than you think you will need. Judicial opinions are not written with law students in mind. They are written for judges and for lawyers. Opinions are filled with terminology and concepts that will be new to you and may require several readings to understand them. A law dictionary will be an invaluable companion as you puzzle your way through the cases. You also will have to work to determine how each case fits with the other as-signed readings. The reason your professor as-signed the case may not be readily apparent.

The necessary class preparation time varies from person to person. At the beginning of the first year, everyone will be struggling to make sense of the cases and to keep up with the assigned readings. As you learn to read cases, you will become more efficient and will prepare for class more quickly. Like every other skill, some people will learn more quickly than others. Do not be discouraged if it seems to be coming more slowly for you. If you keep working at learning, you will learn. If you do not keep working, you may not become a lawyer and certainly will not become a good lawyer. If you fall behind in your assigned reading, catch up on the materials you missed only after preparing for each day's classes. Otherwise, you may stay behind for the rest of the term.

When you read a case, the first line will be a caption that identifies the parties to the lawsuit, such as Shelley v. Kraemer. In a trial court opinion, the plaintiffs name normally is first, and the defendant's is second. In an appellate court opinion, some jurisdictions put the appellant's name first and the appellee's second; others use the trial court caption. If the case has more than one plain-tiff or defendant, the case name still will list only one party for each side. The "v." between the names is an abbreviation for "versus." Just beneath the case name will be a citation to the court that issued the opinion, the year in which the case was decided, and where it was published.

Usually, the next line will identify the judge or justice who wrote the opinion. For example, it might say: "Mr. Justice Stewart delivered the opinion of the Court." More frequently, just the author's name is given, such as "Zorotovich, J." This does not mean that the author's name is Janet Zorotovich. The "J." is an abbreviation for "Justice" if the opinion was issued by a court of final appeal or for "Judge" if issued by a trial court or intermediate appellate court. Similarly, "Madsen, C.J." refers to Chief Justice or Chief Judge Madsen.

Normally, the opinion then describes the parties to the case, the plaintiff's cause of action, and the relevant facts. Appellate court opinions also de-scribe the lower court(s) decision, the procedural method by which the appellant brought the case to the appellate court, and the grounds for appeal. The court then begins its substantive discussion of the case by stating each legal and factual issue. For each issue, the court describes the governing law, how the law applies to the facts of the case, and its decision ("holding") concerning that issue. After discussing each issue, the court states its final disposition of the case. A trial court opinion describes the remedy, if any, the court is granting; an appellate court decision states whether the lower court decision is affirmed or reversed or whether the case is being sent back ("remanded") to the lower court for further proceedings.

The best way to read a case is a matter of personal style. Many people read the entire case quickly to get a sense of it and then re-read it more carefully as many times as necessary to fully understand it. You may understand the case after one reading, but that will be unusual during the first few weeks of law school. The opinion often will include unfamiliar words and terms, which you should look up in a law dictionary. Learning the language of the law is like learning any other language. When you do not know a word, look it up! You also should underline or otherwise highlight important passages, such as the court's statement of the applicable law.

Understanding the court's opinion is just the first step. The next step is analyzing its reasoning. Did the court apply the appropriate legal principles to decide the case? Did it properly apply the principles? Is this opinion consistent with relevant precedents? What are the legal, social, and political ramifications of the court's decision? Will it cause inappropriate results in future cases? Where does this case fit with the other cases you have read? Thinking about these questions will enhance your understanding of the case and of the legal process and will prepare you for the class discussion.

After analyzing the case, read the notes following it in the casebook. The notes often include questions about the case and brief descriptions of other cases that address the same or similar issues. The note cases may reach a different conclusion or may present a twist on the facts of the main case. Because there are so many note cases, you should not take time to find and to read the full opinions for them unless it would help your understanding of the subject or unless your professor tells you to do so. However, you should think about the note cases and attempt to synthesize them with the main case. If they reach a different result, are they inconsistent or are they distinguishable in some legally relevant way? Thinking about the note cases will illuminate new dimensions of the legal principles you are studying and will provide excellent practice at synthesizing cases.

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