For law students
Case brief template
01Citation
Case name, citation (neutral citation where there is one), court, bench and date of decision.
02Parties
Who the appellant and the respondent are, and who was which below.
03Facts
The facts that matter to the decision, in order. Leave out what does not change the answer.
04How it reached this court
The trial court's or tribunal's decision and each appeal before this one.
05Issues
The questions of law the court decided, each as a question.
06Arguments
Each side's main points, in two or three lines each.
07Held
The answer to each issue and the order the court made (allowed, dismissed, remanded).
08Ratio decidendi
The rule of law the decision rests on: what binds later courts. Name the paragraphs.
09Obiter dicta
What the court said that was not needed for the decision.
10Notes
Separate opinions, later cases that followed, distinguished or overruled it, and the provisions it read.
Check what later courts said about the judgment before you rely on it.