Week 1- How to Read a Legal Opinion

What does the caption of a case tell you?

Who is suing whom — it identifies the parties.

What does a case citation tell you?

Where the case is published, including the court/reporter, volume, and page.

What are the facts of a case?

What happened in the real-world dispute; the facts provide the context for the legal decision.

What is procedural history?

The path the case took through the courts, including what lower courts decided and who appealed.

What is the issue?

The legal question the court must answer.

What is the holding?

The court's answer to the legal issue and the legal rule that results from the decision.

What is the reasoning?

The explanation of why the court reached its holding, showing how the law applies to the facts.

What is dicta?

A statement in an opinion that is not necessary to deciding the case and therefore is not binding precedent.

What is the disposition?

he court's final action in the case.

What do affirm, reverse, vacate, and remand mean?

• Affirm = lower court decision stands

• Reverse = lower court was wrong

• Vacate = lower court decision is wiped out

• Remand = case is sent back to a lower court

What is the difference between a majority opinion, concurrence, and dissent?

• Majority = represents the Court's controlling decision

• Concurrence = agrees with the result but gives different reasoning

• Dissent = disagrees with the majority's decision

What should you look for when analyzing the majority's reasoning?

The source of law, the method of reasoning, and how the rules are applied to the facts

What is the difference between holding and dicta?

Holding is necessary to decide the case and is binding; dicta is unnecessary commentary and is not binding.

What are the main things you should be able to extract from a legal opinion?

Facts, legal arguments, disposition, reasoning, holding vs. dicta, hypotheticals, ambiguity, and separate opinions.