ANATOMY of a TRIAL BRIEF

These are the parts of your Trial Brief, in outline Form.

I.
II.
III.
A.
B.
C.
D.
E.
F.
IV.

Statement of the Issue

Statement of Facts
Legal Analysis
OVERARCHING IRAC
SUB-IRAC #1
SUB-IRAC #2
SUB-IRAC #3
COUNTER-ARGUMENT IRAC #1
COUNTER-ARGUMENT IRAC #2
CONCLUSION

What is the STATEMENT OF THE ISSUE?

This is where you tell the court exactly what they are deciding in the case. This is
your first chance to be persuasive. Even though it is a statement of the issue, it
should use language and sentence structure that reveals what position you will
be arguing. Here is an example of a Statement of the Issue from a case about
search and seizure:
Where a vehicle is stopped by the police for speeding, did the
officer unreasonably broaden the scope of the detention by holding the
occupants of the car while a drug-sniffing dog was brought to the
scene- all because the vehicle had a Grateful Dead sticker (i.e. a
"drug positive" sticker) on the bumper? (State of Wisconsin v. Gunther)
As you can see, the Statement of the Issue is a mix of the rule (underlined in the
statement above) and the facts of the case (bolded in the statement above). The
facts emphasized are the most relevant and helpful facts for your side.
MY STATEMENT OF THE ISSUE: (Feel free to type this right onto your Trial Brief)
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What goes in the STATEMENT OF FACTS?

The STATEMENT OF FACTS needs to include all the relevant facts you will be
discussing in your brief. Even though you may want to leave out some facts because
they are bad facts, you should include any you will use in your counter-argument. In
other words, dont avoid the facts the other side will use because it will make you
look bad. The facts you should avoid are the IRRELEVANT facts. The facts that are
extra and dont help the court understand the case.
I suggest doing your Statement of Facts LAST. That way, you will know which facts
you must include and its a good way to check and make sure you made arguments
about all the relevant facts.
Like with the Statement of the Issue, the Statement of Facts IS PERSUASIVE. In your
Statement of Facts, you want to EMPHASIZE your good facts and minimize your bad
facts.
Ways to EMPHASIZE:

Repeat the idea or the fact

Put it at the beginning of the sentence, paragraph or Statement of Facts.
Elongate the fact by adding details and adjectives when giving the fact.
Carefully add qualifying words like only, even though, at a bare
minimum, completely and other language that highlights extremes.

Ways to minimize

Give the fact briefly and only once

Put it at the end of a sentence or in the middle of a sentence. Put it in the
middle of a paragraph. Basically, hide it among other, stronger facts.
Dont give it any extras and dont try to explain it away. That only draws more
attention to it. Its like a pimple, if you try to cover it up with make-up, a scarf
and then your hand, people will notice it MORE because you are drawing
attention to it.

Facts to EMPHASIZE

Facts to minimize

OVERARCHING IRACYour OVERARCHING IRAC is basically a preview of the arguments you will be making
in more detail in your SUB-IRACS.
SUB-IRACSYour Sub-Iracs each cover one separate argument you have to make in regards to
your case. They should focus on one thing you want to prove, rather than a set of
things like in your Overarching IRAC.
COUNTER ARGUMENT IRACSThis is where you identify possible counter claims, or the arguments you think the
other side will try to make.
ISSUE: Persuasive statement of the issue (what the court should decide in this
case).
RULE: After stating an issue, the reader will expect you to identify and explain any
relevant rules. It is not enough to merely state a rule in a sentence or two. Instead,
the unfamiliar reader will expect you to explain that rule. For example, if the rule
contains vague words or phrases, you should define those. You should also explain
how the rule works, what the underlying reasoning or policy is, and perhaps how the
courts have used the rule in the past. If a case example might illustrate any of the
rule aspects that you have discussed, include it briefly and explain how it relates to
your point. Never assume that the meaning and workings of a rule are obvious.
Novice legal writers tend to spend much more time discussing their facts than they
do explaining the relevant law, but for a legal reader, both aspects of the analysis
are important.
Example:
The Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act (IDEIA) guarantees every eligible student
a free and appropriate public education [FAPE] which emphasizes special education and related services
designed to meet their unique needs. 20 U.S.C. 1400(d). Courts use a two-part test, delineated in the
Supreme Courts decision in Board of Education v. Rowley, as a baseline to evaluate whether a students
program is a FAPE. 458 U.S. 176 (1982). The first inquiry is whether the school district followed the
proper procedure with regard to developing the childs education program. Second, courts evaluate
whether the school district provided a substantive FAPE. A school districts education program must
provide a FAPE both procedurally and substantively.

With regard to the substantive prong, courts look at four factors to determine whether a school
district has substantively proposed a FAPE: (1) whether the districts proposed placement was designed to
meet the students unique needs; (2) whether the districts proposed placement was designed to provide
educational benefit to the student; (3) whether the districts proposed placement was designed to provide
the student with an education in the least restrictive environment; and (4) whether the districts actual
placement and services conformed to the students IEP. In other words, districts must offer sufficient
support services to students so that they can benefit from special education instruction. Furthermore,
instruction must be personalized and tailored to the unique needs of the disabled student.

ANALYSIS: The analysis section of your IRAC is where you make you ARGUMENT
by applying your FACTS to your RULE and EXPLAINING WHY THEY PROVE your
conclusion.
KEY THINGS TO AVOID:

Providing the facts and then stating the conclusion without EXPLAINING THE
SIGNIFICANCE of the facts
Assuming the reader automatically understands your interpretation of words
Going off topic to facts or issues that are not important to your argument

KEY THINGS TO DO:

Give examples and hypotheticals

Use social psychology research to help you interpret behaviors and the
reasonable person
Be very clear when explaining things, as if explaining them to a fifth grader.
Use the language in the rule when applying your facts.

Example:
MUSD also failed to provide A. R. a FAPE because the academic goals in the IEP do not amount to
sufficient preparation to meet the transition plans listed achievements (live independently, attend
vocational school, and attend community college within 3years of exiting school). As the decision in
Elizabeth M. indicates, if it is impossible to meet the transition plan achievements because of the
failures in the other sections of the IEP, the transition plan itself has failed (failing to make

reasonable efforts to implement [the students] academic goals perforce results in a finding that [the
district] failed to provide [the student] with adequate transition services to facilitate her matriculation
through college). As it applies to A. R., his academic goals are insufficient to prepare him to
attend community college. He only has 1 unit. He needs more than 100 units to graduate.
Nothing in the IEP addresses A. R.s need to make up units. Further, as noted above, there are
no goals to address A. R.s written expression deficits. Without advancement in written
expression, it will be impossible for A. R. to attend community college. There are also no goals
to address A. R.s ability to live independently. He has no support to help learn about bills,
home care, and other independent living skills. Without any goal to address these skills, the
transition plan achievement of living independently within 3 years of exiting school is not
tenable. Additionally, A. R.s needs are unique in this area because he will be incarcerated until
his exit from school. Thus, he requires intensive assistance to successfully transition from school
to adult life.