name: case-briefs
language: en
description: Generates structured case briefs from judicial opinions. Use when the user provides a court opinion and needs a case brief, case summary, or distillation of a judicial decision for legal research.
Case Brief Generation
Produces a structured case brief from a judicial opinion or case reporter entry. Extracts caption, procedural posture, facts, issues, holdings, reasoning, and significance into a standardized format.
Quick Start
Given a court opinion, produce a brief with these six sections in order:
- Caption & Procedural Posture — full case name, court, date, citation; how the case reached this court; lower court decision and basis for review
- Statement of Facts — material facts chronologically; distinguish background, operative, and procedural facts; include only facts the court deemed relevant
- Issues Presented — frame as precise yes/no or standard-identification questions; one issue per entry
- Holding & Disposition — court's answer to each issue; narrow holding vs. broader principles; affirmed / reversed / remanded / other
- Reasoning & Analysis — doctrines, statutes, precedents relied upon; analytical framework or test applied; concurrences and dissents with key departures
- Significance — new precedent, clarification, or notable application; impact on future cases and practice
Core Guidelines
- Use the opinion's exact language for legal standards, tests, and doctrines
- Mark direct quotations clearly
- Target 1–3 pages depending on complexity
- For multi-issue opinions, separate each issue with its own holding and reasoning
- Maintain objective, analytical tone throughout
Pitfalls
- Speculation on gaps: if the source is incomplete on any element, note the limitation — never fill in missing details
- Overbroad holdings: state the narrow holding first, then any broader principle the court announced
- Conflating facts and analysis: keep the facts section purely factual; save legal characterization for reasoning