I. When reading a statute, consider “briefing” it.

Statutes or similar codified rules of law, like the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure or the Restatements of Law, should be analyzed when confronted.

Statutes are often broken down into sections and subsections. One subsection may contain several elements.

Break statutes down into readily understandable sections to see statutes’ different “tests,” components, and exceptions. A “brief” of a statute need not contain any particular section headings (as in a case brief); rather, it should track and organize the statute’s sections in an easy to understand way.

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1. Survey

Obtain a context for the material. The casebook table of contents will catagorise the material under a topic.

Think: Under what general topic heading does this case fit?

Survey reading by focusing on section headings and subheadings. Read
introductory or summary sections of the material or definitions of the topics in a legal
dictionary. This step will get the “big picture framework” of the concepts covered by the reading and how those concepts fit into the overall legal structure.

2. Question

Think: Before reading—Why am I reading this? What concept/rule is it
supposed to illustrate? (Remember the context gathered in the survey step.)

During—What does this case tell me about the broad legal issue?
What is rule of law from this case?
Does the case divide the rule into elements or factors?
What are the key reasons/facts/policies upon which the court relied in reaching its holding?
How does the information from this opinion fit into the sections of my brief?
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