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Two case studies must be completed; Weeks v. US & Maubury v. Madison. The cases must be briefed using the "IRAC" method. Instructions for formatting below:

How to Brief a Case Using the “IRAC” Method

When briefing a case, your goal is to reduce the information from the case into a format that will provide you with a helpful reference in class and for review.  Most importantly, by briefing a case, you will grasp the problem the Court faced (the issue); the relevant law the court used to solve it (the rule); how the court applied the rule to the fact (the analysis) ; and the outcome.

Facts
Write a brief summary of the facts as the court found them to be.  Eliminate facts that are not relevant to the court’s analysis.  For example, a business’s address is probably not relevant to the court’s decision on product liability, but might be relevant regarding a personal injury matter.  So you will have to make a judgment on what is and what is not relevant insofar as facts are concerned.

Procedural History
What court authored the opinion?  The United States Supreme Court?  The California Court of Appeals?  The Second Circuit Court of Appeals?  Follow the case through the different courts.  If the court of original jurisdiction, in federal cases, most likely the U. S. District Court, made a decision what was it and what was the outcome?  If that same case was heard and decided upon by a Court of Appeals, such as the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond, make comment as to the outcome of the case.  If the circuit then heard the case en blac, make the appropriate comments.  Say after all of this, the case was granted a writ of “cert” by the Supreme Court of the United States, what was the ruling.  When making comment concerning the procedural history make sure someone can follow the case from start to finish.

Issue
What is the question being presented to the court?  Generally in appellate cases in particular, only one issue is addressed, but sometimes there may be more.  What are the parties “fighting” about?  Remember under English Common Law, our system is an adversarial system.


Rule(s)
Determine what the relevant rules of law are that the court uses to make its decision.  These rules are generally identified and discussed at length.  What are the relevant law for the topic being discussed?  Has there been stare decisis  or precedent established?  There may be more than one rule based on the nature of the case.

Application/Analysis
This is the most important section of the brief.  The court will have examined the facts in light of the rule and probably considered all “sides” and arguments presented to it.  How courts apply the rule(s) to the facts and analyze the case must be understood in order to properly predict outcomes of future cases involving the same issue.  What does the court consider to be a relevant fact given the rule of law?  How does the court interpret the rule?  Resist the temptation to simply restate what the court said in their interpretation.  Summarize the application of the law and analysis thereof in your own words. 


Conclusion

What was the final outcome of the case?  In one or two sentences, state the court’s finding.