Court decisions must be read, summarized, and applied to answer any research question dealing with legal issues. The case summary assignment presents a good opportunity to demonstrate how to condense a case into its most important elements: a) Citation; b) Key Facts; c) Issues Presented to the Court; d) Decision of the Court; and e) Reasoning of the Court. Important cases revealed during research inquiries summarized in this fashion provide the researcher the ability to quickly and efficiently incorporate this information into any report or written findings. Overall, the case summary assignment serves as an excellent informational tool and exercise for the development of legal writing skills.
Instructions
A closer look at typical case summaries reveals a strict adherence to a mechanical approach to content and to basic writing style. The case summary assignment intends to compress as much information as possible with precise expression. In order to accomplish this task, every word must be crucially important.
For this assignment, you will prepare one case summary of a court decision that addresses legal issues in sport (see below for cases to choose from). It is expected that you will read the case and synthesize the case into the format provided. You are summarizing and selecting the specific messages the justices communicated in the case and not giving your analysis of the decision.
Each case summary should be at least two pages and may not exceed four pages. An electronic copy of the court decision title page must be attached to your summary or a 10% deduction will occur. Follow the structured format identified below and separate each section from one another with a double space:
- Citation
- Key Facts to include
- factual setting of the case,
- significant background,
- parties involved,
- nature of dispute,
- positions of the parties on the issue,
- decisions of previous courts on that specific case (i.e., if this is a supreme court decision there is likely other courts previously which decided on the case)
- Issues Presented to the Court, for example
- Negligence, sexual harassment, contract breach, etc…
- Other issues can be included but there should be some real legal issue at stake!
- Decision of the Court
- this should be a short response to the issues
- Reasoning of the Court
- Regurgitate the court’s justification for its decision in clear and concise terms. This could be difficult to draw from the court’s opinion. This is not a paraphrase but a capture. Demonstrate your understanding. Address any important dissenting or concurring opinions.
Examples of completed case summaries have been attached to this assignment for your review.
Case list to choose from to complete Case Summary Assignment:
- Rodgers v. Georgia Tech (1983)
- McCullar v. Human Rights Commission (1987)
- Stanley v. USC (1994)
- NY State Division of Human Rights v. NY-Penn Professional Baseball League (1971)
- Morris v. Wallace Community College-Selma (2001)
- Cameli v. O’Neal (1997)
- Dunham v. Pulsifer (1970)
- Dambrot v. Central Michigan University (1995)
- Engel v. Vitale (1962)
- Menora v. Illinois High School Athletic Association (1982)
- Davis v. Meek (1972)
- Mercer v. Duke University, 190 F.3d 643 (4th Cir. 1999)
- Barnett v. Texas Wrestling Association, 16 F. Supp. 2d (N.D. Tex. 1998)
- Force v. Pierce City, 570 F. Supp. 1020 (W.D. Missouri. 1983)
- Adams v. Baker, 919 F. Supp. 1496 (Kan. 1996)
- Yellow Springs v. Ohio High School Athletic Assoc., 647 F. 2d 651 (6th Cir. 1981)
- Clark v. Arizona Interscholastic Association, 695 F. 2d 1126 (9th Cir. 1982)
- Williams v. School District of Bethlehem, 998 F. 2d 168 (3rd Cir. 1993)
- C.B.C. Distrib. & Mktg., Inc. v. Major League Baseball Advanced Media, L.P., 443 F. Supp.2d. 1077, 1100 (E.D. Mo. 2006)
- Nabozny v. Barnhill (1975)
- Times Company v. Sullivan (1964)
- Florida Star v. B.J.F. (1989)
- Shulman v. Group W Productions, Inc. (1998)
- Bilney v. Evening Star Newpaper Co. (1979)
- Curtis Publishing Co. v. Butts (1967)
- Chuy v. Philadelphia Eagles Football Club
- Stanley v Big Eight Conference (1978)
- Behagen v Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Reps (1972)
- O’Connor v. Board of Education (1970)
- Taylor v. Ala. HS Athletic Association (1972)
- Palmer v. Merluzzi (1989)
- Karmanos v. Baker (1987)
- Scott v. Kilpatrick (1970)
- St. Augustine v. Louisiana High School Athletic Assoc. (1968)
- Boston Athletic Association v. Sullivan (1989)
- NFL v. Wichita Falls Sportswear (1982)
- American Basketball Assoc. v. AMF Voit (1973)
- NFL v. New Jersey Giants, Inc. (1986)
- Augusta National Inc. v. Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance (1976)
- Maddox v. University of Tennessee (1995)
- Dennin v. Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference (1996)
- Martin v. PGA Tour (2001)
- Kuketz v. Petronelli (2005)
- NCAA v. Board of Regents of University of Oklahoma (1983)
Submission Guidelines
The following guidelines should be adhered to when completing this assignment:
- Your summary should be no longer than four pages single spaced. Better if over two but less than four pages!
- Writing should be precise, concise, simple, and logical. An elaborate description of the facts is not necessary.
- Correctly format your case summary using APA 6th edition, including
- citing the case on a cover page with your name(s)
- Do not include citations in text.
- Legal writing is impersonal. Never use proper names. For example,
- Incorrect- Judge Seifried stated
- Correct- The dissent stated
- Incorrect- Chad Seifried
- Correct- defendant
- Attach the first page of your case to your assignment. This can be a copy and paste from the document or a screenshot.
Grading
Your submission will be graded according to the following guidelines/rubric.
| Criteria | Exemplary | Good | Unacceptable |
| Key Facts(20%) | Points possible: 16-20pts Information provided highlights the key facts/background of the case. Presents information on legal issues and identifies specific legal terms. Not a direct copy and paste of the opinion but a summary with past decision history provided (if applicable). | Points possible: 11-15pts Evidence of the key facts is provided but some specific recognition of the correct legal terms or legislative items is missing. May have a bit too much copy and pasting from the court opinion with irrelevant information. | Points possible: 5-10pts The writing is not logically organized, and the elements do not make sense as stated in the case. The summary is difficult to follow and no legal or legislative terms are provided. |
| Issues and Decisions(30%) | Points possible: 25-30pts Correct identified issues and decisions provided that connect to the key facts. Short and to the point. Specifi |