brief

法律英语：Brief写作

HowtoBriefaCa

Confusionoftenarisovertheterm“legalbrief.”Thereare

atleasttwodifferentnsinwhichthetermisud.

Appellatebrief

Anappellatebriefisawrittenlegalargumentprentedtoan

poistopersuadethehighercourt

toupholdorreverthetrialcourt’ofthis

kindarethereforegearedtoprentingtheissuesinvolvedin

thecafromtheperspectiveofonesideonly.

Appellatebriefsfrombothsidescanbeveryvaluabletoanyone

unately,

eCourtistheonly

courtforwhichbriefsareregularlyavailableinpublished

dmarkBriefsries(101.9.K8)

includesthefulltextsofbriefsrelatingtoaveryfewofthe

tion,summariesofthe

briefsfiledonbehalfoftheplaintiffordefendantforall

eCourtReports.

Lawyer’sEd.,(101.A42).

Studentbrief

Astudentbriefisashortsummaryandanalysisoftheca

etofnotes,

prentedinasystematicway,inordertosortouttheparties,

identifytheissues,ascertainwhatwasdecided,andanalyze

thereasoningbehinddecisionsmadebythecourts.

Althoughstudentbriefsalwaysincludethesameitemsof

information,theforminwhichtheitemsaretoutcanvary.

Beforecommittingyourlftoaparticularformforbriefing

cas,checkwithyourinstructortoensurethattheformyou

havechonisacceptable.

THEPARTIESANDHOWTOKEEPTRACKOFTHEM

Beginningstudentsoftenhavedifficultyidentifying

followingdefinitionsmayhelp:

Plaintiffssuedefendantsincivilsuitsintrialcourts.

Thegovernment(stateorfederal)procutesdefendantsin

criminalcasintrialcourts.

Thelosingpartyinacriminalprocutionoracivilaction

mayaskahigher(appellate)courttoreviewthecaonthe

aw

givesthelortherighttoahighercourtreview,hisorher

ordoesnothavethisright,his

thisprocedure,theappellatecourtisbeingaskedtoexerci

itslawfuldiscretioningrantingthecasahearingfor

review.

Forexample,adefendantconvictedinafederaldistrictcourt

hastherighttoappealthisdecisionintheCourtofAppeals

ty

losinginthisappellatecourtcanrequestthatthecabe

reviewedbytheSupremeCourt,but,unlesscertainspecial

circumstancesapply,hasnorighttoahearing.

Thetwoprocedures,appealsandpetitionsforcertiorari,are

sometimesloolygroupedtogetheras“appeals.”However,

thereis,asshown,adifferencebetweenthem,andyoushould

knowit.

Apersonwhoeksawritofcertiorari,thatis,arulingby

ahighercourtthatitheartheca,isknownasapetitioner.

Theperson,whomustrespondtothepetition,thatis,the

winnerinthelowercourt,iscalledtherespondent.

Apersonwhofilesaformalappealdemandingappellatereview

er

opponentistheappellee.

Thenameofthepartyinitiatingtheactionincourt,atany

levelonthejudicialladder,alwaysappearsfirstinthelegal

mple,ArloTatumandotherssuedinFederal

DistrictCourtforaninjunctionagainstSecretaryofDefen

MelvinLairdandotherstostoptheArmyfromspyingonthem.

Tatumandhisfriendsbecameplaintiffsandthecawasthen

umgrouplostintheDistrict

CourtandappealedtotheCourtofAppeals,wheretheywere

referredtoastheappellantsandthedefendantsbecamethe

.

WhenTatumandhisfellowappellantswonintheCourtofAppeals,

Lairdandhisfellowappelleesdecidedtoekreviewbythe

ccessfullypetitionedforawritof

certiorarifromtheSupremeCourtdirectingtheCourtof

Appealstonduptherecordoftheca(trialcourt

transcript,motionpapers,andassortedlegaldocuments)tothe

SupremeCourt.

:

Lairdandassociateswerenowthepetitioners,andTatumand

lchurchgroupsanda

groupofformerintelligenceagentsobtainedpermissiontofile

briefs(writtenarguments)onbehalfoftherespondentstohelp

persuadetheCourttoarriveatadecisionfavorabletothem.

Eachofthegroupswastermedanamicuscuriae,or“friend

ofthecourt.”

Incriminalcas,switchesinthetitlesofcasarecommon,

becaumostreachtheappellatecourtsasaresultofanappeal

,a

a.

STUDENTBRIEFS

Thecanbeextensiveorshort,dependingonthedepthof

analysisrequiredandthedemandsoftheinstructor.A

comprehensivebriefincludesthefollowingelements:

ndCitation

eof

thepersonwhoinitiatedlegalactioninthatparticularcourt

helorsoftenappealtoa

highercourt,stctionofthis

guideshowsyouhowtoidentifytheplayerswithoutascorecard.

Thecitationtellshowtolocatethereporterofthecain

nowonlythetitleof

theca,thecitationtoitcanbefoundusingthecadigest

coveringthatcourt,oroneofthecomputer-assistedlegal

rearchtools(WestlaworLEXIS-NEXIS).

ftheCa

Agoodstudentbriefwillincludeasummaryofthepertinent

showthe

natureofthelitigation,whosuedwhom,badonwhat

occurrences,andwhathappenedinthelowercourt/s.

Thefactsareoftenconvenientlysummarizedatthebeginning

ofthecourt’mes,thebeststatement

ofthefactswillbefoundinadisntingorconcurringopinion.

WARNING!Judgesarenotabovebeinglectiveaboutthefacts

nbecomeofcrucialimportancewhenyou

trytoreconcileapparentlyinconsistentcas,becautheway

ajudgechoostocharacterizeand“edit”thefactsoften

determineswhichwayheorshewillvoteand,asaresult,which

ruleoflawwillbeapplied.

Thefactctionofagoodstudentbriefwillincludethe

followingelements:

?Aone-ntencedescriptionofthenatureoftheca,torve

asanintroduction.

?Astatementoftherelevantlaw,withquotationmarksor

underliningtodrawattentiontothekeywordsorphrasthat

areindispute.

?Asummaryofthecomplaint(inacivilca)ortheindictment

(inacriminalca)plusrelevantevidenceandarguments

prentedincourttoexplainwhodidwhattowhomandwhythe

cawasthoughttoinvolveillegalconduct.

Asummaryofactionstakenbythelowercourts,forexample:

defendantconvicted;convictionupheldbyappellatecourt;

SupremeCourtgrantedcertiorari.

Theissuesorquestionsoflawraidbythefactspeculiarto

,watch

outfortheoccasionaljudgewhomisstatesthequestionsraid

bythelowercourt’sopinion,bythepartiesonappeal,orby

thenatureoftheca.

Constitutionalcasfrequentlyinvolvemultipleissues,some

ofinterestonlytolitigantsandlawyers,othersofbroader

sureyouhaveincludedboth.

Withrareexceptions,theoutcomeofanappellatecawillturn

onthemeaningofaprovisionoftheConstitution,alaw,or

ethatprovisionordebatedpoint

ffwithquotation

llhelpyoulaterwhenyoutry

toreconcileconflictingcas.

Whennotingissues,itmayhelptophrathemintermsof

questionsthatcanbeansweredwithapreci“yes”or“no.”

Forexample,fEducation

involvedtheapplicabilityofaprovisionofthe14thAmendment

tutiontoaschoolboard’spracticeof

excludingblackpupilsfromcertainpublicschoolssolelydue

ciwordingoftheAmendmentis“no

stateshall...denytoanypersonwithinitsjurisdictionthe

equalprotectionofthelaws.”Thecarefulstudentwouldbegin

byidentifyingthekeyphrasfromthisamendmentanddeciding

ngthat

therewasnodoubtthattheschoolboardwasactingastheState,

andthatMissBrownwasa“personwithinitsjurisdiction,”

thenthekeyissuewouldbe“Doestheexclusionofstudents

fromapublicschoolsolelyonthebasisofraceamounttoa

denialof‘equalprotectionofthelaws’?”

Ofcourtheimplicationsofthiscawentfarbeyondthe

situationofMissBrown,theTopekaSchoolBoard,orevenpublic

stdoubtonthecontinuingvalidityofprior

decisionsinwhichtheSupremeCourthadheldthatrestriction

ofBlackAmericansto“paratebutequal”facilitiesdidnot

denythem“equalprotectionofthelaws.”Makenoteofany

suchimplicationsinyourstatementofissuesattheendofthe

brief,inwhichyoutoutyourobrvationsandcomments.

NOTE:Morestudentsmisreadcasbecautheyfailtoethe

issuesintermsoftheapplicablelaworjudicialdoctrinethan

snosubstitutefortakingthetime

toframecarefullythequestions,sothattheyactually

incorporatethekeyprovisionsofthelawintermscapableof

lsohelptolabelthe

issues,forexample,“proceduralissues,”“substantive

issues,”“legalissue,”ertoo,thatthe

samecamaybeudbyinstructorsfordifferentpurpos,

sopartofthechallengeofbriefingistoidentifythoissues

inthecawhichareofcentralimportancetothetopicunder

discussioninclass.

ons

Thedecision,orholding,isthecourt’sanswertoaquestion

prentedtoitforanswerbythepartiesinvolvedorraid

re

narrowproceduralholdings,forexample,“careverdand

remanded,”broadersubstantiveholdingswhichdealwiththe

interpretationoftheConstitution,statutes,orjudicial

ssueshavebeendrawnprecily,the

holdingscanbestatedinsimple“yes”or“no”answersor

inshortstatementstakenfromthelanguageudbythecourt.

ing

Thereasoning,orrationale,isthechainofargumentwhichled

thejudgesineitheramajorityoradisntingopiniontorule

ouldbeoutlinedpointbypointinnumbered

ntencesorparagraphs.

teOpinions

Bothconcurringanddisntingopinionsshouldbesubjectedto

thesamedepthofanalysistobringoutthemajorpointsof

dge

ofhowjudgesofaparticularcourtnormallylineupon

particularissuesisntialtoanticipatinghowtheywill

voteinfuturecasinvolvingsimilarissues.

is

Herethestudentshouldevaluatethesignificanceoftheca,

itsrelationshiptoothercas,itsplaceinhistory,andwhat

isshowsabouttheCourt,itsmembers,itsdecision-making

process,ortheimpactithasonlitigants,government,or

rethattheimplicitassumptionsandvalues

oftheJusticesshouldbeprobed,the“rightness”ofthe

decisiondebated,andthelogicofthereasoningconsidered.

CreatedbyChristopherPyle,1982

ineKilloran,Feb.1999

ExcerptedfromLloydSealyLibrary,JohnJayCollegeof

CriminalJustice