How to Brief a Case
Confusion often arises over the term "legal brief." There are at least two different senses in which the term is used.
Appellate brief
An appellate brief is a written legal argument presented to an appellate court. Its purpose is to persuade the higher court to uphold or reverse the trial court’s decision. Briefs of this kind are therefore geared to presenting the issues involved in the case from the perspective of one side only.
Appellate briefs from both sides can be very valuable to anyone assessing the legal issues raised in a case. Unfortunately, they are rarely published. The U.S. Supreme Court is the only court for which briefs are regularly available in published form. The Landmark Briefs series （REF. LAW KF 101.9 .K8） includes the full texts of briefs relating to a very few of the many cases heard by this court. In addition, summaries of the briefs filed on behalf of the plaintiff or defendant for all cases reported are included in the U.S. Supreme Court Reports. Lawyer’s Ed., 2nd. series （REF. LAW KF 101 .A42）.
Student brief
A student brief is a short summary and analysis of the case prepared for use in classroom discussion. It is a set of notes, presented in a systematic way, in order to sort out the parties, identify the issues, ascertain what was decided, and analyze the reasoning behind decisions made by the courts.
Although student briefs always include the same items of information, the form in which these items are set out can vary. Before committing yourself to a particular form for briefing cases, check with your instructor to ensure that the form you have chosen is acceptable.
THE PARTIES AND HOW TO KEEP TRACK OF THEM
Beginning students often have difficulty identifying relationships between the parties involved in court cases. The following definitions may help：
Plaintiffs sue defendants in civil suits in trial courts.
The government （state or federal） prosecutes defendants in criminal cases in trial courts.
The losing party in a criminal prosecution or a civil action may ask a higher （appellate） court to review the case on the ground that the trial court judge made a mistake
