Reading a Case

One of the first things new law students read are cases. Cases are judicial opinions and are considered primary sources of law (A full explanation of Primary Sources can be found here.). Judicial opinions are important to read because they let the reader know what a judge decided based on particular facts in a case and based on the law in that jurisdiction. The more cases we read on a specific topic, the better able we will be to predict how a court may rule on a similar issue that may arise in the future. Predicting an outcome is an important skill law students learn in their first year of law school. We will discuss more about this skill in later chapters. For now, we need to focus on reading the cases carefully.

As we read a case, one of the things we are looking to notice is the relevancy of the facts that are included. This may sound simple at first, but it actually takes some time and practice to understand which facts are relevant to a legal issue. Sometimes judges include facts that are not relevant to the issue at hand, but provide some other useful information, like background information. Other times, there are facts that are not useful in any way. It is the reader’s job to try to figure out which are relevant to the judicial decision.

It may now seem a bit more obvious as to why clear writing is favored. This thought holds true in judicial opinions just as much as it does in other forms of legal writing. Judges who state the facts of a case clearly, allow the readers an easier opportunity to figure out which are relevant. My advice is to take it slowly and read carefully. This skill often takes some time to develop so do not rush it.