How to Brief Cases and Analyze Case Problems To fully understand a particular law, you need to be able to read

and understand court decisions. To make this task easier, you can use a method of case analysis that is called briefing. There is fairly a standard procedure that you can follow when you brief any court case. You must first read the case opinion carefully. When you feel you understand the case, you can prepare a brief of it. Although the format of a case brief may vary, typically it will present the essentials of the case under headings such as those listed below. This is basically the format followed by the authors when briefing the cases that have been included in this text. Citation. Give the full citation for the case, including the name of the case, the date it was decided, and the court that decided it. Facts. Briefly indicate (a) the reasons for the lawsuit; (b) the identity and arguments of the plaintiff(s) and defendant(s), respectively; and (c) the lower courts decisionif appropriate. Issue. Concisely phrase, in the form of a question, the essential issue before the court. (If more than one issue is involved, you may have twoor even morequestions here.) Decision. Indicate herewith a yes or no, if possiblethe courts answer to the question (or questions) in the Issue section above. Reason. Summarize as briefly as possible the reasons given by the court for its decision (or decisions) and the case or statutory law relied on by the court in arriving at its decision. How to Analyze Case Problems In addition to learning how to brief cases, law students must also know how to analyze case problems. Part of the study of law involves analyzing case problems. For each case problem you are assigned, your job will be to determine how the court should decide the issue/s and why. In other words, you have to engage in legal analysis and reasoning. Here are some suggestions on how to make this task less daunting. Read the sample problem: While Janet Lawson, a famous pianist, was shopping in Market Marquee Mall, she slipped and fell on a wet floor in one of the aisles. The floor had recently been mopped by one of the stores employees, but there were no signs warning customers that the floor in that area was wet. As a result of the fall, Lawson injured her right arm and was unable to perform piano concerts for the next six months. Had she been able to perform the scheduled concerts, should would have earned approximatelyP60,000 over that period of time. Lawson sued Market Market for this amount, plus another P10,000 in medical expenses. She claimed that the stores failure to warn customers of the wet floor constituted negligence and therefore the market was liable for her injuries. Will the court agree with Lawson? Discuss.

UNDERSTAND THE FACTS This may sound obvious, but before you can analyze or apply the relevant law to a specific set of facts, you must clearly understand those facts. In other words, you should read through the case problem carefully and more than once, if necessary, to make sure you understand the identity of the plaintiff(s) and defendant(s) in the case and the progression of events that led to the lawsuit. In the sample case just given, the identity of the parties is fairly obvious. Janet Lawson is the one bringing the suit; therefore, she is the plaintiff. Market Marquee Mall, against whom she is bringing the suit, is the defendant. Some of the case problems you may work on have multiple plaintiffs or defendants. Often, it is helpful to use abbreviations for the parties. To indicate a reference to a plaintiff, for example, the pi symbolis often used, and a defendant is denoted by a deltaa triangle. The events leading to the lawsuit are also fairly straightforward. Lawson slipped and fell on a wet floor, and she contends that Market Marquee Mall should be liable for her injuries because it was negligent in not posting a sign warning customers of the wet floor. When you are working on case problems, realize that the facts should be accepted as they are given. For example, in our sample problem, it should be accepted that the floor was wet and that there was no sign. In other words, avoid making conjectures, such as Maybe the floor wasnt too wet, or Maybe an employee was getting a sign to put up, or Maybe someone stole the sign. Questioning the facts as they are presented only adds confusion to your analysis. LEGAL ANALYSIS AND REASONING Once you understand the facts given in the case problem, you can begin to analyze the case. The IRAC method is a helpful tool to use in the legal analysis and reasoning process. IRAC is an acronym for Issue, Rule, Application, Conclusion. Applying this method to our sample problem would involve the following steps: 1. First, you need to decide what legal issue is involved in the case. In our sample case, the basic issue is whether Market Marquee Malls failure to warn customers of the wet floor constituted negligence. Negligence is a torta civil wrong. In a tort lawsuit, the plaintiff seeks to be compensated for anothers wrongful act. A defendant will be deemed negligent if he or she breached a duty of care owed to the plaintiff and the breach of that duty caused the plaintiff to suffer harm. 2. Once you have identified the issue, the next step is to determine what rule of law applies to the issue. To make this determination, you will want to review carefully the law on Torts and Damages in which the problem appears to find the relevant rule of law. Our sample case involves the tort of negligence. The applicable rule of law is the tort law principle that business owners owe a duty to exercise reasonable care to protect their customers. Reasonable care, in this context, includes either removingor warning customers of foreseeable risks about which the owner knew or should have known. Business owners need not warn customers of open and obvious risks, however. If a business owner breaches this duty of care (fails to exercise the appropriate degree of care toward customers), and the breach of duty causes a customer to be injured, the business owner will be liable to the customer for the customers injuries. 3. The nextand usually the most difficultstep in analyzing case problems is the application of the relevant rule of law to the specific facts of the case you are studying. In our sample problem, applying the tort law principle just discussed presents few difficulties. An employee of the store had mopped the floor in the aisle where Lawson slipped and fell, but no sign was present indicating that the floor was wet. That a customer might fall on a wet floor is clearly a foreseeable risk. Therefore, the failure to warn customers about the wet floor was a breach of the duty of care owed by the business owner to the stores customers. 4. Once you have completed step 3 in the IRAC method, you should be ready to draw your conclusion. In our sample case, Market Marquee Mall is liable to Lawson for her injuries, because the markets breach of its duty of care caused Lawsons injuries. The fact patterns in the case problems presented in this text are not always as simple as those presented in our sample problem. Often, for example, there may be more than one plaintiff or defendant. There also may be more than one issue involved in a case and more than one applicable rule of law. Furthermore, in some case problems the facts may indicate that the general rule of law should not apply. For example, suppose a store employee advised Lawson not to walk on the floor in the aisle because it was wet, but Lawson decided to walk on it anyway. This fact could alter the outcome of the case because the store could then raise the defense of assumption of risk. Nonetheless, a careful review of the chapter should always provide you with the knowledge you need to analyze the problem thoroughly and arrive at accurate conclusions. APPLICABLE LAWS: PROVISIONS OF THE NEW CIVIL CODE TITLE XVII Extra-contractual Obligations CHAPTER 2 Quasi-delicts ARTICLE 2176. Whoever by act or omission causes damage to another, there being fault or negligence, is obliged to pay for the damage done. Such fault or negligence, if there is no pre-existing contractual relation between the parties, is called a quasi-delict and is governed by the provisions of this Chapter. ARTICLE 2177. Responsibility for fault or negligence under the preceding article is entirely separate and distinct from the civil liability arising from negligence under the Penal Code. But the plaintiff cannot recover damages twice for the same act or omission of the defendant. ARTICLE 2178. The provisions of articles 1172 to 1174 are also applicable to a quasi-delict. ARTICLE 2179. When the plaintiff's own negligence was the immediate and proximate cause of his injury, he cannot recover damages. But if his negligence was only contributory, the immediate and proximate cause of the injury being the defendant's lack of due care, the plaintiff may recover damages, but the courts shall mitigate the damages to be awarded. ARTICLE 2180. The obligation imposed by article 2176 is demandable not only for one's own acts or omissions, but also for those of persons for whom one is responsible. The father and, in case of his death or incapacity, the mother, are responsible for the damages caused by the minor children who

live in their company. Guardians are liable for damages caused by the minors or incapacitated persons who are under their authority and live in their company. The owners and managers of an establishment or enterprise are likewise responsible for damages caused by their employees in the service of the branches in which the latter are employed or on the occasion of their functions. Employers shall be liable for the damages caused by their employees and household helpers acting within the scope of their assigned tasks, even though the former are not engaged in any business or industry. The State is responsible in like manner when it acts through a special agent; but not when the damage has been caused by the official to whom the task done properly pertains, in which case what is provided in article 2176 shall be applicable. Lastly, teachers or heads of establishments of arts and trades shall be liable for damages caused by their pupils and students or apprentices, so long as they remain in their custody. The responsibility treated of in this article shall cease when the persons herein mentioned prove that they observed all the diligence of a good father of a family to prevent damage. TITLE XVIII Damages CHAPTER 1 General Provisions ARTICLE 2195. The provisions of this Title shall be respectively applicable to all obligations mentioned in article 1157.

ARTICLE 2196. The rules under this Title are without prejudice to special provisions on damages formulated elsewhere in this Code. Compensation for workmen and other employees in case of death, injury or illness is regulated by special laws. Rules governing damages laid down in other laws shall be observed insofar as they are not in conflict with this Code. ARTICLE 2197. (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) Damages may be:

Actual or compensatory; Moral; Nominal; Temperate or moderate; Liquidated; or Exemplary or corrective. The principles of the general law on damages are hereby adopted insofar as they are not inconsistent with this Code. CHAPTER 2 Actual or Compensatory Damages

ARTICLE 2198.

ARTICLE 2199. Except as provided by law or by stipulation, one is entitled to an adequate compensation only for such pecuniary loss suffered by him as he has duly proved. Such compensation is referred to as actual or compensatory damages. ARTICLE 2200. Indemnification for damages shall comprehend not only the value of the loss suffered, but also that of the profits which the obligee failed to obtain. ARTICLE 2201. In contracts and quasi-contracts, the damages for which the obligor who acted in good faith is liable shall be those that are the natural and probable consequences of the breach of the obligation, and which the parties have foreseen or could have reasonably foreseen at the time the obligation was constituted. In case of fraud, bad faith, malice or wanton attitude, the obligor shall be responsible for all damages which may be reasonably attributed to the non-performance of the obligation. ARTICLE 2202. In crimes and quasi-delicts, the defendant shall be liable for all damages which are the natural and probable consequences of the act or omission complained of. It is not necessary that such damages have been foreseen or could have reasonably been foreseen by the defendant. ARTICLE 2203. The party suffering loss or injury must exercise the diligence of a good father of a family to minimize the damages resulting from the act or omission in question.