Write one legal (case) brief (3-4 typed pages each) based on a U.S. Supreme Court Case assigned by the instructor.

U.S. Supreme Court Case Written Opinion Assignment: Healy v. James (1972)

LEGAL BRIEF WRITING ASSIGNMENT & PRESENTATION

Goal of Writing a Legal Brief:

The overall goal of writing a legal brief is to provide a reader, who has no previous knowledge about the case, with a general sense for:

(a) how the case appeared before the court,

(b) the legal issue(s) that are trying to be determined by the courts, and

(c) the Supreme Court's decision on the case.

Keep in mind, that legal briefs do not contain student's personal opinions or commentaries, but rather only provide information directly from the case facts.

All legal briefs should follow APA style and the general writing guidelines (e.g., typed, 12 point font, double spaced, grammatically correct, etc.) on the Blackboard course menu.

General Guidelines for Writing Legal Briefs:

• First, read through the case for general understanding. Try to ignore the legalese. Also, you do NOT have to read the dissenting opinion portion at the end of the case. Rather, you should focus on the Majority Opinion.

• Second, as you re-read the case you will need to develop an understanding of the procedural posture of the case. How did the case get to the Supreme Court?

• Third, determine the main legal issue(s) and the Court's holding in the Major Opinion on the issue(s). Consider what constitutional issue is at stake? What question is the Supreme Court trying to answer in the case and what implications will it have for the operations of public universities?

• Fourth, you will need to be able to explain the rationale behind the Court's decision.

Components of a Legal Brief:

There are five components that comprise a legal brief which include:

I. Citation: Citations are references that allow attorneys to look up particular court cases and judicial opinions. The citation serves as a designation of the case and generally includes

a.) the volume number,

b.) name of reporter, and

c.) the page number.

For example, if a case were decided by the Supreme Court and cited as 60 S. Ct. 710, the case would be found in volume 60 of the Supreme Court Reporter on page 710.

II. Facts: The facts of the case provide a concise synopsis of the processes involved in how the case appeared before the Supreme Court. The facts component of the brief should be a maximum of a half to one double spaced, typed page in length.

III. Issue(s): The issue component of a brief should always be framed as a question. The issue serves as the question or questions that the Supreme Court will be trying to decide. Therefore, what are the main legal issues at stake in this case?

IV. Holding: The holding is a yes or no answer to the legal issue at hand in the case. It is important to note that the issue component and holding component of the brief should represent the most succinct components of the brief.

V. Rationale: The rationale component of the brief will provide the reader with a longer explanation of the Supreme Court's holding in the determination of the legal issues. Thus, in this component you will seek to explain in greater detail the Supreme Court's holding in this case.

The rationale component of the brief should be one to two typed pages in length.

Attachment:- healy_v._james_1972.rar