1. Captions and Citations Judicial History and Facts
Legal Analysis
Captions and Citations
Judicial History and Facts

2. Review
Syllabus
Headnotes
Summary
Key Number

3. Caption Caption—title of case Name of parties Reporter references
Long caption
Short caption
Citation reference
Name of parties
Reporter references

4. Decoding the Caption Full names of parties and related actions
Supreme Court of the United States
TEXAS, Petitioner v. Gregory Lee JOHNSON. No

5. Caption Supreme Court of the United States
BROWN et al. v. BOARD OF EDUCATION OF TOPEKA, SHAWNEE COUNTY, KAN., et al.
BRIGGS et al. v. ELLIOTT et al.
DAVIS et al. v. COUNTY SCHOOL BOARD OF PRINCE EDWARD COUNTY, VA., et al.
GEBHART et al. v. BELTON et al.
Nos. 1, 2, 4, 10.
Reargued Dec. 7, 8, 9, Decided May 17, 1954.

6. Ernesto A. MIRANDA, Petitioner, v. STATE OF ARIZONA.
Michael VIGNERA, Petitioner, v. STATE OF NEW YORK.
Carl Calvin WESTOVER, Petitioner, v. UNITED STATES.
STATE OF CALIFORNIA, Petitioner, v. Roy Allen STEWART.
Nos , 584.
Argued Feb. 28, March 1 and 2, Decided June 13, Rehearing Denied No. 584 Oct. 10, 1966.

7. Citation
Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U.S. 436, 86 S.Ct. 1602, 16 L.Ed.2d 694 (1966)
Texas v. Johnson, 491 U.S. 397, 109 S.Ct (1989)
Brown v. Board of Ed. of Topeka, Shawnee County, Kan.,  347 U.S. 483, 74 S.Ct. 686 (U.S. 1954)

8. Examples VICTOR A. RITA, PETITIONER v. UNITED STATES No. 06-5754
VICTOR A. RITA, PETITIONER v. UNITED STATES No
SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES
127 S. Ct. 2456; 168 L. Ed. 2d 203; 2007 U.S. LEXIS 8269; 75 U.S.L.W. 4471; 20 Fla. L. Weekly Fed. S 381
February 20, 2007, Argued June 21, 2007, Decided
127 S. Ct. 856
287 U.S. 45  

9. Citations
Bluebook
California
ALWD

10. Citation--Bluebook Rochester v. Tucker, 488 U.S. 960 (1992)
Case name Vol. Reporter/series Page (Circuit Date)
    
Smith v. Jones P.2d 62 (Ariz. Ct. App 1994)
Rochester v. Tucker, 488 U.S. 960 (1992)
Flynn v. Brown, 106 F.2d 987 (5th Cir. 1972)
Flynn v. Brown, 96 F. Supp. 456 (S.D.N.J. 1971)
SEE PAGE 12 IN TEXT

11. Citation—California Style Manual
Smith v. Jones (Ariz. Ct. App 1994) 101 P.2d 62
Allen v. Bates (1994) 34 Cal. App. 4th 376, 289 Cal. Rptr. 78
Rochester v. Tucker (1992) 488 U.S. 960

12. California Reporters Cal. California Reports
Cal. App. California Appellate Reports
Cal. Rptr. California Reporter
P. Pacific Reporter
LEXIS
D.A.R. Daily Appellate Reports

13. Federal Reporters U.S. United States Reports
S.Ct. Supreme Court Reporter
L.Ed. Lawyers Edition
F. Federal Reporter
F.Supp Federal Supplement
Lexis & WL

14. Regional Reporters P. Pacific Reporter A. Atlantic Reporter
S.W. Southwest Reporter
S.E. South Eastern Reporter
S. Southern Reporter
N.E. Northeast Reporter

15. What do these citations tell you?
U.S. v. Spy Factory, Inc., 951 F. Supp. 450 (S.D.N.Y. 1997)
U. S. v. Horton, 601 F.2d 319 (7th Cir. 1979)
People v. Morgan, 197 Cal. App. 2d 90, 16 Cal. Rptr. 838 (1961)
De Lancie v. Superior Court, 31 Cal. 3d 865, 183 Cal. Rptr. 866, 647 P.2d 142 (1982).

16. Procedural History
Nature and result of all proceedings that occurred PRIOR to case report you are reading
First, look at citation
Consider the rules of appellate procedure

17. Appellate Process--Civil Cases
STATE FEDERAL
State Trial Court District Court
 
Appellate Court Circuit Ct. of Appeals
State Supreme Court  U.S. Supreme Court
(If Federal Issue) (Writ of Cert.)

18. Appellate Process--Criminal Cases
STATE FEDERAL
State Trial Court District Court
 
Appellate Court Ct. of Appeals
  
State Supreme Court  U.S. Supreme Court
(Certiorari)

19. PRIOR PROCEEDINGS VS. CURRENT PROCEEDING
Judicial History = Prior Proceedings
Examples:
San Diego v. Roe

20. Procedural History
Prior Proceedings: Give details, explain how the case arrived at the current court
DO NOT give results of current proceedings in this part of brief.

21. Components of a Procedural History
Prior Procedings:
Trial court
Parties’ names
Relationship of Parties
Who sued whom
Result of trial court proceedings
I.e. Verdict, motion for summary judgment/other motion/dismissal
Who appealed

22. Procedural History cont.
If current proceeding is in Supreme court then also discuss appellate court proceedings:
Identify Court
Result of appeal
reverse/remand/affirm

23. Current Proceeding
The Judicial History has a brief statement about how the case arrived at the current proceeding:
i.e.
(If decision is appellate court decision, then “Plaintiff appealed.” or “Plaintiff filed a petition for writ of mandate, etc.”).
(If Supreme Court) then “Supreme Court granted a hearing.”
END JUDICIAL HISTORY HERE

24. Writing Judicial History
Refer to trial court as “trial court”
This is history--write in past tense and use complete sentences
State what courts did—Give a brief reason
Avoid word “contend”
DO NOT TELL WHAT CURRENT COURT DID--ONLY TELL HOW CASE GOT THERE

25. Judicial History Checklist—What to Include
1. Identify who sued whom
2. Describe the general nature of the suit in one sentence
3. Describe the procedures that occurred in the trial court
i.e. Were motions made?
Was there a jury/court trial? Who won?
4. If the case is in a state Supreme Court, explain what the appeals court did.
Affirm/reverse/remand
5. If the case is in the U.S. Supreme Court, on a writ from a state supreme court, what did the state supreme court do?

26. Notes on Writing Judicial History
Use verbs that describe something that the court does or that a party does in court:
Party:
Sue
File
Make a motion
Appeals
Petitions

27. Cont. Trial Court: Award judgment Jury returned a verdict
Granted Motion
Denied Motion
Appellate Court:
Affirm
Reverse
Remand
* Be sure to be specific as to what is affirmed or reversed

28. FACTS AND CASE LAW All case law revolves around facts
For a case to be precedent or stare decisis the essential facts of the reported case must be same or similar to the essential facts of your client’s case.

29. Importance of Identifying Essential Facts in a Reported Case
Determining if a case is stare decisis
Using a case in a Memorandum

30. Analyzing Facts of Case Law
Sorting the facts as
1. Essential/ Relevant
2. Significant/ Explanatory
3. Insignificant/ Unnecessary

31. How to Sort the Facts
A fact is relevant or essential if the fact pattern changes substantially when the fact is removed or changed (Sometimes called Key Facts)
A fact is explanatory or significant if it simply helps the researcher understand what actually happened
A fact is unnecessary if when removed it does not alter the fact pattern

32. Guidelines Court’s own characterization of fact Repeated references
I.e. important, noteworthy etc.
Repeated references
Reaction to Parties’ evaluation

33. Key Facts
Facts are key facts because they are necessary to understand the holding in the case. They are related to the holding.
Therefore, try to identify the holding or rule of law before determining key facts

34. Hints
To determine essential facts look to rule of law in case (Holding).
Look to language in opinion
“Facts”
Relevant Facts
READ THE WHOLE CASE!

35. Writing a Statement of Facts
Keep sentences short
Use “active voice”
Avoid specific dates unless relevant
Identify parties by their relationship to case, not by name, i.e. Plaintiff/appellant,
NEVER QUOTE
If facts are involved, outline before writing

36. Organizing the Facts Chronological By Cause of Action
Final draft should include only relevant/explanatory facts