INTRODUCTION TO LAW
1. Assimilate the facts of the story, classify it, know
I. What and why of Exams
A. Thinking Like a Lawyer
 Argument: essay type exams do not measure
your ability to succeed as a lawyer since it
does not test some skills that the lawyer
must have (ex. phone skills, interviewing a
client)
 Counter: it teaches you how to “Think like a
lawyer”
-the ability to give legal advice
1. being able to digest a set of facts
2. being able to identify the issue
3. apply governing legal principles
4. make a prediction or conclusion
 You must give legal advice based on
the clients situation
-there are no definitive answers,
there are provisional, probabilistic,
answers and arguments
*provisional-serving for the time
being
*probabilistic-depends on chance
“They had to think as if they were representing the
Bad Man” – Holmes Jr.
Knowledge of the Law
-being able to predict if the accused with be
penalized/ sanctioned
-what are the chances that your client will go to jail,
pay damages, or be subject to injunction
B. Think in terms of arguments, not answers
* the law evolves and deviates from the existing
doctrine to shape the rules that met the necessities
of the times
-each side must make the best argument they can.
Even if you’re on the side of the bad man
 Judges VS Lawyers
-judges pronounce who the winner and the
loser is
C. Connecting the real world and the exam room
 Lawyers make real arguments out of clients’
stories
*fact pattern-clients stories
STEPS
where to find the relevant law
-is it a contracts issue? Torts issue?
Corporate or constitunitonal law? Or all of
the above?
2.Understand and interpret the legal rules that fits
your case
-what is the governing rule?
-is there more than 1 that might apply?
3. Make the arguments
4. Tell the client the assessment or prediction of the
likelihood that she will win and what it costs to get
there
II. Pinball Method of Exam Taking
A. how playing pinball is like taking law school
essay exams
 You have control where the ball goes.
 Even is gravity is pulling you down, you can
always make it hit more bumpers and score
more points
 Its not a matter of keeping it from falling for
the longest time, but a matter of hitting the
most number of bumpers
“nothing matters but hitting the bumpers’ =there
are specific things the professor is looking for
(when you write them, you score points)
3 Things that DON’T matter on Exams
1. how fast or slow you finish the exams
-it only matters how many bumpers they hit
2. how many words or pages you write
-yes, it is subject to word/page limits but it
always depends on how many bumpers you
hit
3. how brilliant your exam is in some abstract sense
-it can be full of insight but the other might
be mundane
B. How hitting the bumpers (or not) affects grades
-you are graded based on a normality curve
-scoring a few more points can change your grade
III. IRAC: A framework for analysis
 Irac is a framework for legal analysis
  It divides legal analysis into 4 parts:
issue, rule, application, conclusion
 Follow IRAC’s steps to locate and
hit bumpers
1. Identify and frame the issues
2. Identify the relevant rules that will govern the
resolution
3. Argue about how the rules apply to the issue
4. accurately assess the likelihood of a given
argument prevailing
A. I is for ISUUE or ISSUES
-most of the time you will only be given stories or
fact patterns. It is up to you to spot the issue
B. R is for RULE
-a lawyer must identify the rule that determines a
resolution to the issue
-you may not know the precise rules, but you know
where to look for them
-you are expected to learn how to apply the rules
you have learned in the semester
C. A is for APPLICATION
-you must learn to argue both sides of the question
D. C is for CONCLUSION
-there is no pat answer to a legal question
-conclusions should typically be expressed in
qualified or probabilistic terms
ex. “it is likely that….”
IV. Issue Spotting and Sorting
- A large percentage of the points can be
obtained by identifying and framing the
issue (irrespective of how the issues are
analyzed)
1. Issue spotting
-identify the issues
2. Issue sorting
-know which ones need more attention and which
ones need less
A. Matching
-issue spotting is like grade school matching
-list A is the law covered by the course. List B is the
issues hiding in the fact pattern
B. List A (Subject list)
-you must have a list of what has been covered in
the course
-this helps avoid missing issues that you should spot
-this comes from your course outline
B. List B (Issue list)
-comes from the fact pattern
-most of what you have covered in the course is the
issues that will be hidden in the fact pattern
C. Scrolling
-do these facts address something that was taught in
the course?
-Scroll List A and find them in List B
D. Ignore, Mention, or Analyze?
E. Deciding how much to spend on a issue
- move quickly on one sided issues
-dwell on meatier ones
V. Rules
-provides the structure of the analysis of the issue
 Don’t just recite the rules, use them to
structure your analysis
 Be thorough: consider and discuss each
aspect of the rule
 Discuss the rationales behind the rules
 Acknowledge splits of authority, where
disagreements might make a difference. But
identify the majority rule if there is one
A. Follow the rules
-always analyze the elements that make up the issue
ex. torts: duty, breach, cause-in-fact, proximate
cause, injury
B. Splits of Authority
-different jurisdictions vary in the adoption or
rejection of the law
ex. California and ames
-you must point out which ruling is better fit for the
case
C. Minority or outlier rules
VI. Application
-second most important element
=argument is the name of the game
-argue that the rule is applicable to the issue
Ex. Tia’s Case
Issues:
 Potential statutes of limitations issue
-did she wait too long to sue?
  Breach issue
-she thinks she received substandard
treatment, but that is only her view. Was
their breach according to the torts law?
 Causation issue
-she thinks the hyper pigmentation was
caused by the treatment but she is unsure
 Contractual limitation of liability issue
-she signed a contract that limits her rights
to sue
***Argument (breach): there was negligence on the
side of the operator because they did not give
substantial warning to Tia about the side effects.
But it is stated in torts that they must inform her
before pushing through with such operations.
(1) was the operator careful
(2) even if he was careful, did he inform tia of the
risks?
REMEMBER!
Facts is ‘fact patterns’ are there for a reason
-your supporting arguments are hidden there
A. Arguing both sides and when to do it
1. Depending on the facts, the issue could go either
way
-how does a legal rule apply to a particular
set of facts
ex. did he or did he not commit breach
2. If the rule when applied has a bizarre result
ex. Elmer killed his grandfather before he
could change his will so keep his
inheritance.
(a)at first the court found the will to still be
valid since it was unchanged
(b)but they argued that a will should be read
implicitly and not explicitly as to deprive
murdering heirs of their inheritance
3. the rules invite policy analysis
ex. there was a waiver signed but does it…
(a) valid or invalid (does the terms cover the
liability in question?, did the person
understood its terms)
(b) does it violate public policy (does it deny
the person protection from malpractice)
B. Arguing from the facts
1. argue from the facts that you have been given
2. make reasonable assumptions from those you
have not been given
Note: some facts are really omitted
=to answer them…
“to resolve issue X, it may be useful to know the
following facts a, b, c”
-you must show them that you know what
facts you should know to resolve the issue
when they are absent
C. Forking: avoiding jumped ships, missed
opportunities, and dead ends
1. Jumped Ships
-when you go down one branch of the fork then get
distracted by an issue that runs along side it and
forget to return to the first branch
-make sure to climb up back on board
2. Forgotten forks
-roads not taken
-you only finish 1 branch of the fork and move on
3. Dead ends
-you end up resolving it without further analysis
ex. Tia loses because the LTS has a call for statutes
of limitations defense (the length of time you can
complain and sue them)
REMEMBER:
-any claim is barred by the statutes of limitations
-although the court may dismiss the case because of
the statutes of limitations there is still a possibility
that the court would find otherwise so proceed with
analyzing the remaining issues raised by the facts
VII. Conclusions
 Think in terms of probabilities, not
certainties
 Use tentative statements of conclusions to
guide your analysis, but revise them to
develop and refine your argument
 State conclusions clearly even though they
are qualified
*the least important part
-achieving certainty as to any given conclusion
is often too difficult to give you points
-there always good arguments on both sides
*you may be asked to play the role of a judge
 “although x y and z support a contrary result, I
rule in favor of the conclusion C because of a, b
and c”

*frame your argument based on the conclusion

you would want to have

REMEMBER:
 Answer the questions asked of you
 State conclusions probabilistically but
clearly
 Does your conclusion follow common
sense? It may be right but it doesn’t hurt to
refine or reconsider it

VIII. Preparing for Class

A. Core Elements of a Case Brief

*Case Brief=summary of a case

1. Facts
-story at the heart of a juridical opinion
2. Procedural Posture
-how did the case come to this court
ex. is it from the regional trial court which is
less binding or is it from the supreme court
which all laws must follow
3. Issue
-the heart of the case
-what did the parties ask the court to resolve
*note: easiest way to state is using
“whether”
4. Judgment
-who won?
5.Rule
-how did the court explain why the
prevailing party won?
6. Rationale
-how did the court come to this decision
CASE BRIEFS Supreme Court
(will only review the case if special cases apply)
I. Types of Case Briefs
3. “Appeals”: difference between appeals and
A. Appellate Brief petitions for certiorari
 What-a legal argument presented to an
appellate court a. Writ of Certiorari
 Purpose-persuade the higher court to uphold  Petitioner (losing party in the
or reverse the trial court’s decision lower courts; and the one who
 Perspective-presents the perspective of one appeals)
side only  Respondent (the winner in
B. Student Brief/Digest the lower courts)
 What-short summary and analysis of the b. Formal Appeal
case  Appellant (loser; the one who
 Purpose-classroom discussion appeals)
 Perspective-both sides  Appellee (winner;
respondent)
II. Parties
A. Types of Cases 4. Naming the cases
 The party initiating the action in court at any
1. Civil Suits (complaints) level always appears first in the legal papers
 Plaintiff (sues)  Most criminal cases switch titles because the
 Defendant (the one being sued) defendants appeal to the higher courts

2. Criminal Cases (convicted) III. Form and Elements

 Government (People of the Philippines)
(prosecutes the defendant) A. Form 1
 Defendant (the one being convicted/accused)
1. Title and Citation
B. Appeals a. Title
1. When the losing party appeals to a higher -who is opposing whom?
(appellate) court to review the case on the grounds Ex. Sumaway vs Caoyonan
that the trial court judge made a mistake b. Citation
-tells the reader the reporter of the SCRA
a. When a person is given the right ex. SCRA
-his/her lawyer will appeal ***if you only know the title you can find
the citation at
b. When he is not given the right sc.judiciary.gov.ph/judisprudence/
-they may petition for a writ of certiorari
2. Facts of the Case
****writ of certiorari=order the lower trial  Who sued whom
court to deliver its record in a case to that the  Based on what occurrences
court may review it at its discretion  What happened in the lower courts
***summarized in the beginning of the
2. Hierarchy of Courts court’s published opinion

Regional Trial Court Elements (N, L, S, A)

a. nature of the case
Court of Appeals -one sentence intro
(cannot refuse reviewing a case from the RTC) b. Relevant laws
-with quotation marks or underlines
 c. Summary of the complaint or conviction + c. Procedural History
relevant evidence -how the case was filed how it appeared in that
d. summary of actions taken by the lower court
courts
3. Issues  Regional trial court
-questioned raised by the facts peculiar to the case -explain what type of legal action the plaintiff
-stated explicitly brought
ex. constitutional cases involve multiple issues  Appellate Court
-explain what type of legal action the plaintiff
***more student misread cases because they fail to brought AND how the lower courts decided
see the issues in terms of the APPLICABLE law or and why
judicial doctrine than for any other reason
d. Issues
4. Decisions -factual and legal questions
-holding or courts decision
ex. the case reversed and remanded e. Holdings
***if the issues are precise they can be answered -answers to the legal questions
with a yes or no -answer them separately
1. answer yes or no
5. Reasoning 2. then the legal principle which the court
-the chain of argument which led the judges in a relied on to answer that
dissenting or majority opinion
f. Rationale
6. Separate Opinions -the court’s reasoning why they decided this way and
-analysis of the opinions how they will apply it to other situations
-major points of agreement and disagreement with
the majority opinion g. Disposition
 Did the court decide in favor or the plaintiff
7. Analysis or the defendant
-evaluation/impact  What remedy if any did the court grant?
a. significance of the case  If it’s an appellate court opinion did the court
b. relationship to other cases affirm the decision, reverse it in whole or in
c. its place in history part or remand the court for additional
d. what it shows about the Court and its proceedings
impact
h. Concurring and Dissenting Opinion
B. Form 2 -agreeing and disagreeing opinions
a. Caption (C, DC, Y, P)
 Case name
 Deciding court
 Year it was decided
 Page in the case book

b. Facts
-legally relevant situations where the question arises
*it is legally relevant if it has an impact on the
outcome