Do a case brief on this case: Berg v. Wiley

Do the case brief in this format:

Case Citation (case title and date of decision):Due both to the case method of studying the law and the common law emphasis on judicial opinions, the title of an opinion (Jones v. Smith) becomes a symbol of the rule for which it stands. So, for instance, a court wanting to talk about the rule of consequential damages might not recite the rule but rather say, "the rule in Hadley v. Baxandale..." Thus, it is important for you to fix in your mind the name of each case, its basic facts, and the rule (or rules) it stands for. Key Facts: This is a critical part of the brief. The facts determine the legal issue about which the plaintiff can sue, and they determine the rule the court will choose to apply in order to arrive at a resolution. Your fact section should aim to accomplish three things. The key facts that led up to appeal must always be stated in the case. They are usually found in the first few paragraphs in the case, near where the issue to be decided is found, or leading up to it. Cases are precedents for later cases that are similar. For a case to be a precedent to a later case, it must have similar facts and issues. The facts that are mentioned in the rationale are the only ones that are important to list. This is why I find it easier to do the facts section of briefs as a last step.

1. 1. Make clear who the parties are. It can be confusing if you just write "plaintiff" and "defendant," so include more details, such as "Seller (Rogan Corp.plaintiff)" or "the appellee, Thompson (the buyer)".
   2. Tell the story briefly rather than just list facts. This helps you remember the details and puts the rule into context. If the order of events matters, make a timeline. Don't rewrite the fact section from the opinion. A few brief sentences should almost always suffice to summarize the key facts in a usable narrative. DO NOT WRITE THE PROCEDURAL HISTORY IN THE FACTS SECTION. THERE IS A SEPARATE SECTION FOR THIS. KEEP READING.
   3. Keep your focus on the facts that determine the outcome. If the event in question happened on Tuesday, but that fact was not relevant to the outcome of the case, then it can be ignored. This means that you have to figure out, before you brief, which facts were the relevant ones upon which the judge based their decision.

Procedural History: You will study trial procedure in your Civil Procedure class, but you will encounter the reality of procedure in all your classes. Procedure is important, so you should take note of it as you read cases. The procedural history of the case brief explains how the case got to the appeals court. The procedures you are wanting to identify for this section of the brief are going to include a brief description of what has happened at the various stages of the case. This section does not include any key background facts about the case itself. Only include what happened and where it happened in the sense of the "system" of the U.S. government. The main matter to mention in your brief is how the suit came before the court that is writing the opinion. If the opinion was written by an appellate court, which party won in the court below (sometimes called "lower court"). Did the dispute come before the court on a final disposition (the judge below decided on the main legal merits of the issue being litigated)? Was the case decided on summary judgment, meaning that the facts were not in dispute and the only issue was one of law? It may have begun at an administrative agency and there was an administrative hearing decision that was appealed to the next court level and so on.Surprisingly, when I brief a case, I find it easier to write the procedural history first.

Issue: What legal question is the judge determining? Skim the case until you find the court stating the ISSUE ON APPEAL. Courts usually state these pretty clearly early in the decision so everyone knows how far the decision can be used as a precedent. Cases are limited by the issues decided in the case.Be sure that you are finding the legal question, not a factual question.Write the issue on appeal like the court does or in your own words and pose it as a yes/no question.Typically, one sentence beginning with the word "whether" is sufficient to state the legal issue. Sometimes cases have more than one issue, and if so, each issue should each be briefed separately. The job of a judge is to rule on questions of law. The job of a jury is to decide questions of fact. Consider this Contracts example: Buyer sues Seller because the car she bought from him turned out to be unsafe and consequently, she was injured in an accident. Buyer claims that she bought that particular car because Seller told her, "This car is the safest car on the road today." Such a statement might be a warranty, in which case it is a legally enforceable promise and Seller could be liable for the harm Buyer suffered, or it might just be sales talk, called puffery, and Seller would not be liable on a warranty claim. Determining whether the statement is a warranty or puffery is a question of law, which the judge decides. Determining whether Seller did, indeed, make the statement and whether Buyer decided to buy the car because of it is a question of fact for a jury. In your brief, you need to note that the legal issue in this case is whether Seller made a warranty. Try to make your statement of the issue as exact as possible.

Holding/Decision and Disposition:

What was the holding? Did the court answer "yes" or "no" to the issue? The HOLDING is most often found at the end of the decision. It is the ultimate decision or answer to the issue as decided by the judges. Sometimes they state something like "the decision by the trial judge is upheld (affirmed)" or "the court decision below is upheld (affirmed)". They can also reverse, remand, and/or overrule. This is stated as a yes or no answer, followed immediately by the action the court took (e.g. affirmed, reversed, etc.).

What was the disposition? At the appellate level the court can uphold or overturn the lower court ruling. Alternatively, the court could remand, which means that it cannot decide on the legal merits but instead returns the dispute to the lower court for a decision on a particular factual matter. When more than one legal issue has been appealed, the court could decide some of them and remand others.

Reasons/Rationale. After stating the facts, the issue, and the legal rule that controls the case, the judge has to apply the facts to the rule to arrive at a holding.By now the student has the Issue, and the holding, so now it is time to discover WHY the court held as it did. Identify and list the reasons why the court decides what it does. We call these reasons theRATIONALEof the court, and sometimes the reasons why a court decides what it does is part of the law of that case. This is the body of the opinion, which we call the legal analysis. What does it mean to "apply the facts to the rule"? Here is an example. A statement is a warranty if it is (1) an affirmation of fact or a promise, (2) that relates to the goods, and (3) that becomes a part of the basis of the bargain between the parties. In the example of the sale of the car above, the court would test the facts to decide whether the statement "this car is the safest car on the road today" was an affirmation of fact or a promise, whether the statement related to the car being sold, and whether Buyer chose in part to buy the car because of the statement. In your brief, you want to outline how the court goes through its analysis and arrives at its conclusion. But, again, you want to keep your analysis tight and short. You are not rewriting the analysis; you are just outlining it.

Putting these elements together weaves a short story about the case which allows everyone to deal with it effectively and talk about it. That is what law students do in class. They discuss cases and their effect on the body of law. If you ever need to understand the importance of a recent case, this is how to do it.