Use Case: 521 F.3d 130 (2008)
Craig HOLCOMB, Plaintiff-Appellant,
v.
IONA COLLEGE, Defendant-Appellee.
Docket No. 06-3815-CV.
United States Court of Appeals, Second Circuit.
Explanation of assignment:
Law students and attorneys brief cases to help them understand the cases they are studying and relying on in court. Because this is not a law class, it is not necessary for you to brief multiple cases, but it is important to know how to brief a case. Knowing how to brief a case helps you better understand the case you are briefing. And, because we live in a society based on the rule of law, being able to read and understand cases is an important skill. This assignment will help you learn that skill. Please refer to the Sample Case Brief here in Module 1 for more guidance on this assignment.
Prompt:
a relevant case to use: 521 F.3d 130 (2008)
Craig HOLCOMB, Plaintiff-Appellant,
v.
IONA COLLEGE, Defendant-Appellee.
Docket No. 06-3815-CV.
United States Court of Appeals, Second Circuit.
How to brief a case:
- Write the complete case citation across the top of your page. Then, list Facts, Issue, Holding and Rationale. You must include all these categories as described below to earn full points for this Case Brief assignment.
- The brief should be typed, double-spaced in 12-point font (any style font–Arial, Calibri, etc.) and briefs that earn full points are usually three pages in length (a length requirement is not enforced, however).
- Facts: Briefly describe (in a few paragraphs) the facts (background) of the case. This is usually described at the beginning of the case. What happened that brought this case to court?
- Issue: What is the issue the court is ruling on and considering in this case? The issue is usually one or two sentences, and is usually found in the middle of the case.
- Holding: What did the court decide? This is also known as the ruling of the court. It is usually only a sentence (or even just a few words) long and is usually the last sentence in the case.
- Rationale: Why did the court decide the way it did? What were the reasons for the court’s decision? The court will usually look at statutes, Constitutions and/or the common law and prior precedents in describing its rationale.