Reading a CaseExtracting what matters from a judgment efficiently.LawA repeatable method.1Read the headnoteOrientation only — never cite it as authority.2Identify the material factsThe facts the decision actually turned on.3State the legal issueThe question the court had to answer.4Find the decisionWho won, and on what basis.5Extract the ratioThe reasoning necessary to that outcome.6Note dissents and obiterPersuasive, and often the seed of later change.Educational reference. A case brief that omits the material facts isunusable: the ratio only makes sense against them.Reading a Caselearnposters.com
Reading a Case — printable law & society wall chart from LearnPosters. Free vector PDF, US Letter and A4.

Reading a Case, step by step

A repeatable method.

  1. Read the headnoteOrientation only — never cite it as authority.
  2. Identify the material factsThe facts the decision actually turned on.
  3. State the legal issueThe question the court had to answer.
  4. Find the decisionWho won, and on what basis.
  5. Extract the ratioThe reasoning necessary to that outcome.
  6. Note dissents and obiterPersuasive, and often the seed of later change.

Educational reference. A case brief that omits the material facts is unusable: the ratio only makes sense against them.

Questions about the Reading a Case poster

What’s on the Reading a Case poster?
6 numbered steps. A repeatable method. Read the headnote — Orientation only — never cite it as authority.; Identify the material facts — The facts the decision actually turned on.; State the legal issue — The question the court had to answer.; Find the decision — Who won, and on what basis.; Extract the ratio — The reasoning necessary to that outcome.; Note dissents and obiter — Persuasive, and often the seed of later change.. Educational reference. A case brief that omits the material facts is unusable: the ratio only makes sense against them.
Who is the Reading a Case poster for?
Reading a Case belongs to the Law section rather than to a school year, because law & society is not something one grade owns. Anyone learning legal skills can pin it up — a beginner, a student mid-course, or someone revising years later.
When should you use the Reading a Case poster?
Find the issue, the decision and the reasoning. Everything else is context. A wall chart earns its place by being glanceable from where the work is happening, so Reading a Case belongs on the wall where that law & society work actually happens, within glancing distance, rather than filed away.
What other posters go with Reading a Case?
Analysing a Problem, Client Interviewing and Structuring an Answer sit alongside Reading a Case in the Law section. Printed together they make a wall rather than a single sheet, which is how a reference set actually gets used.Analysing a ProblemClient InterviewingStructuring an Answer
Is the Reading a Case poster free to download and print?
Yes. Reading a Case downloads as a free PDF with no account, no email and no watermark, like everything else in the Law section. Print as many copies as you like for a home, a classroom, a library or a tutoring group; reselling the file is the only thing the licence rules out.Read the licence
What size does the Reading a Case poster print at?
Reading a Case is a vector PDF laid out for US Letter, and prints on A4 with Fit to page — the same file, no separate download. Because every mark on it is drawn rather than photographed, it stays sharp enlarged to A3, A2 or A1 at a copy shop. Colour carries emphasis only, so a greyscale print of Reading a Case loses nothing.Printing guide

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