Due Date: Must be submitted through Canvas no later than February 21, 2020, at 11:59 p.m.
Syllabus:
Writing Assignment 1:
Three (3) Case Briefs: The case-briefing exercises require students to analyze published judicial opinions and then summarize the salient points of the case within a single page. We will go over how to write a case brief in class. The case briefs will be graded using the grading rubric posted on Canvas and will count towards 30% of the final grade in the course (4% for the first case brief; 6% for the second case brief; 10% for the third case brief).
Purpose: The purpose of reading in the practice of law is different from the purpose of reading in many other disciplines. In law, you read not just to familiarize yourself with someone else’s ideas, but to be able to use the information to formulate and answer additional questions. This requires understanding judicial opinions. Therefore, passively reading cases is not sufficient; you must deconstruct judicial opinions into different parts and state those components in your own words in an easily accessible format. Case briefs reduce the volume of material and ensure understanding of the opinions for application in a new set of facts.
Directions: Choose one of the cases from Part II: Table for Cases section of your textbook (page 453), and use the “Briefing Cases” article I provided you in class February 5, 2020, as a “How To” guide for your case brief (case name; facts; procedural history; issue(s); holding/decision; rule; rationale/reasoning; final disposition; and other opinions (dissent/concurrence). Please keep in mind that while a case brief generally consists of similar topic headings, some professors/employers will have a preferred briefing format. You are only required to follow this general format in this class.
Formatting: One single-spaced page; 12-point font; Times New Roman font; one-inch margins; clear topic headings.
Grading Rubric:
Grading Rubric For Case Brief #1 | ||||||||||
Elements | Not Attempted | Does not Meet | Meets | Exceeds | ||||||
Expectations | Expectations | Expectations | ||||||||
Case Name | Little to no | Evident, but the | Addresses all | Citations and | ||||||
Citation and | evidence of | citations are | parts of the | procedural | ||||||
Procedural | proper citation | incorrect as to | citation and | history are | ||||||
History | of the case and | form, spelling, | procedural | correct and | ||||||
(4 points) | procedural | numeric | history, but is | adequately | ||||||
history | correctness, or | not entirely clear | address all parts | |||||||
the essential | or | clearly and in | ||||||||
procedural | straightforward | chronological | ||||||||
history is | sequence | |||||||||
incomplete | ||||||||||
Length | Little to no | Too short | On the short side | Falls within the | ||||||
Requirement | evidence of a | and/or it meets | length | |||||||
(2 points) | case brief | the length | requirement | |||||||
requirement only | without going | |||||||||
because it | over and does | |||||||||
contains “fluff” | not contain | |||||||||
“fluff” | ||||||||||
Mechanics of | Little to no | Needs | Generally free | Free from | ||||||
Writing | evidence of | improvement | from grammar, | grammar, | ||||||
(4 points) | proper writing | with respect to | citations, | citations, | ||||||
mechanics | grammar, | spelling and/or | spelling and/or | |||||||
citations, | style errors, but | style errors | ||||||||
spelling and/or | needs some | |||||||||
style | improvement | |||||||||
Understanding | Exhibits a | Exhibits little | Exhibits | Exhibits | ||||||
(10 Points) | complete lack of | understanding of | sufficient | excellent | ||||||
understand of | the material, but | understanding of | understanding of | |||||||
the material | needs | the material, but | the material | |||||||
improvement | some | |||||||||
improvement | ||||||||||
needed |