How To Read And Understand Any Legal Case In Under 5 Minutes
8 min read ★
This article sets out the Simple guide to reading and understanding legal cases.
This guide is applicable to all legal cases you are likely to be required to read in law school, and if applied correctly will save you hundreds of hours throughout your degree.
I will use the British case Parker v British Airways Board [1982] QB 1004 (a well known property law case concerning chattels) to explain how to quickly read and understand a legal case. I recommend following along using a copy of this case, even if you are not studying property law this semester. A copy of the case is available here.
Let’s begin.
Step 1: The basics
Before trying to read any case, the first step should be to note the following:
- The parties
- The Court
- The issue(s) – particularly (or only) those relevant to your course
- Litigation history – whether this is an appeal or a matter heard at first instance
- The outcome – which party was successful
- Which judgments are the majority judgments (i.e. which judges provide the majority opinion on the issues)
If you are reading a reported judgment, you will be able to find most of this information in the headnote (see image below).
The headnote usually contains catchwords (the key legal concepts and terms used in the case), a summary of the facts, issues and outcome, and a range of other information like the judges’ names, relevant dates, or even summaries of the parties’ arguments. The content depends on which report series you are reading from.
While the headnote is a useful source of information, be aware that it is drafted by the editors of the report series and does not actually form a part of the case. It therefore should only be used for your information, and should not be quoted or referenced in your assignments.
Step 2: The Facts
If you are trying to cut down on reading time or this is your first time reading the case, do not waste time reading counsel submissions (pages 1004 – 1007D). The submissions are a recount of each party’s arguments but do not contain any of the judges’ opinions.
The first judgment begins at page 1007E.
Having identified the “majority” judgments, the first step is to search through the case to see which majority judgment contains a summary of the material facts. A general rule is the “main” judgment of the Court will do this. The other majority judges will then either refer to facts as stated in the main judgment, or state the facts again in their own words. You should be aware of this to ensure you read the facts only once.
When reading the main fact summary, I recommend noting the important points that arise from the material facts. This provides a mental framework that you will refer to when faced with problem questions later in the course. After you have read the facts once, you can save time by skipping any recital of facts you come across in the remaining judgments.
In Parker, Donaldson LJ summarises the facts of the case on the first page and a half (1007E to 1008H).
I would summarise Parker’s facts as follows:
- Finder lawfully on property and found item lying on the floor (not attached)
- Finder & Occupier are not legal owners of the item
- Relevant maxim – ‘finders keepers unless the true owner claims the article’
- Finder contends he found the chattel which gives him rights to the chattel
- Occupier contends they have rights over all lost chattels on their land whether or not the occupier knows of their existence
Step 3: The Judges’ Decision (and their reasoning)
Many law professors recommend reading legal cases from beginning to end. I disagree. If you are reading the case with a view to understanding the legal concept it puts forward (as will be the case most of the time), after completing Steps 1 and 2 I recommend skim reading “middle part” of a judgment until you reach the decision/conclusion.
The reason for this is that the after the summary of facts, judgments will usually explore authorities and legislation that were at the time relevant to the issues at hand. The problem with this,, especially if you are reading an old case like Parker, is that such exploration often involves a recital law that is now irrelevant for your purposes – either because it is not directly relevant to the issues, or it has since been overturned by the case you are reading or later decisions/legislation. While considering past cases is an important aspect of writing judgments, it is not vital when reading a legal case with a view to understanding the new legal concept it puts forward.
To find the conclusion/decision you are looking for, your starting point should be the headnote. Most of the time, the headnote will give a page or paragraph reference to the conclusion or decision on any particular issue. If the headnote does not help (or your case is unreported), finding the conclusion/decision is a matter of skim reading until you pass the analysis of the law and reach the part where the judges are applying the law to the facts of the case. This will usually be found towards the end of a judgment. If there are multiple issues being discussed in a single judgment, use any available subheadings to identify where the discussion of any particular issue is coming to a close.
I recommend starting a page or two before these decision/conclusion paragraphs, and taking care to read this passages thoroughly. A lot of the time, the conclusion/decision will succinctly summarise the past cases they have spent many pages discussing. Where this is not the case and there is only vague reference of any past authorities that I would like to know more about, I would refer back to the body of the judgment and read about that past case on a “need to know” basis.
In Parker, the headnote summarises the majority’s decision under “Held” and refers to paragraphs 1018D-G, 1019A-D, E-1020B, G-1021 A, C-F”.
Starting a couple of pages before this, at page 1017D, we come across the following:.
You will see that here, Donaldson LJ has kindly summarised the relevant legal principles and outlined the rights of the finder and occupier. It’s likely that this is the part of the case that you would be expected to apply to various facts in problem questions, assignments or your final exam.
Reading on through page 1018D to 1019E, you will learn why Donaldson LJ dismissed the defendant’s appeal with reference to the principles summarised on the preceding pages.
Reading the next page and a half, you will learn the reasoning of the other majority judge, Eveleigh LJ. From these few pages, you should be able to understand the legal concepts put forward by this entire case.
Should you read the rest of the case? This will depend on why you are reading the case, and what you are hoping to achieve. If you are preparing a thorough critique or analysis of the case, you might need to read on. If you are simply seeking to gain an understanding of the principles, you have probably read enough.
We would recommend applying the method suggested by this article every time you read a case, even if you know that you are going to read the entire case. Starting off by reading the Simple way will give you a foundational understanding of the principles, before you later fine-tune the understanding by reading the nitty-gritty detail of past case discussion or the opposing view of the majority judgments.
Final Words: Case Reading And Researching Tips
- Don’t attempt to read a case without having a general idea about what was decided and the legal principles the case stands for. The headnote and Google are both your friend (but never your ultimate authority).
- Often, the Court will retrace previous authorities and highlight important parts of previous decisions (see, in Parker pages 1007 to 1017).
- If you have been tasked with reading 5 cases on a particular topic (or simply need to gain a good understanding of a legal issue), there is a good chance the most recent case on the issue will cite and summarise the most important parts of earlier judgments. Use this as a time-saver. I prefer to obtain a case summary from a High Court Justice than a less reputable source like a case summary website that may misinterpret important information. I also recommend reading journal articles that summarise a number of cases than individually reading each case. This is particularly useful if you need to quickly understand a topic’s principles.
Happy reading! Let us know in the comments if this method has helped you.
