7 CASE NOTING It is at this point that a case note can be made. The case note has to contain all of the information that enables the case to be used. One of the most important tasks of a law student or, indeed, a legal professional is the ability to read a case and make a usable record of it. The cases that are reported are invariably important as non-important cases remain as court transcripts. The case note must note all of the important issues for the application of precedent, such as: • date of court and formal citation; • hierarchy of court, judges; • facts; • issues before the trial court; • identification of applicable legal rules; • issues, if different before appellate court(s); • procedural history of the case (in what other courts has the matter been heard); • judicial reasoning as to: why those rules applied to those facts in that way. A case note cannot be used if it only records the facts and not the rationale for the outcome as everything in law depends upon the legal reasoning. A case can only be properly used in legal argument when the reasoning of the court is both known and understood. Many students misunderstand the purpose of case noting and think that it is sufficient to have the facts of the case and know the rules concerned. This is a little like having the ingredients for a cake and knowing that, when heated, something changes, but not knowing what to do with the ingredients. It is often not even necessary to rehearse the facts of a case in an argument in which the case is used. What is important is to know points of similarity and difference in facts so that adjustments can be made to the reasoning processes in applying the earlier case to the later situation. If strenuous efforts have been made to understand a law report thoroughly, the following benefits will be achieved: (1) the case note will contain all the ingredients to enable it to be competently applied to any problem question or incorporated into any relevant essay; (2) understanding of the topic and arguing techniques will be increased; (3) competent execution of assessments and examinations (if your analysis of the questions asked is not wrong!)

DOI link for 7 CASE NOTING It is at this point that a case note can be made. The case note has to contain all of the information that enables the case to be used. One of the most important tasks of a law student or, indeed, a legal professional is the ability to read a case and make a usable record of it. The cases that are reported are invariably important as non-important cases remain as court transcripts. The case note must note all of the important issues for the application of precedent, such as: • date of court and formal citation; • hierarchy of court, judges; • facts; • issues before the trial court; • identification of applicable legal rules; • issues, if different before appellate court(s); • procedural history of the case (in what other courts has the matter been heard); • judicial reasoning as to: why those rules applied to those facts in that way. A case note cannot be used if it only records the facts and not the rationale for the outcome as everything in law depends upon the legal reasoning. A case can only be properly used in legal argument when the reasoning of the court is both known and understood. Many students misunderstand the purpose of case noting and think that it is sufficient to have the facts of the case and know the rules concerned. This is a little like having the ingredients for a cake and knowing that, when heated, something changes, but not knowing what to do with the ingredients. It is often not even necessary to rehearse the facts of a case in an argument in which the case is used. What is important is to know points of similarity and difference in facts so that adjustments can be made to the reasoning processes in applying the earlier case to the later situation. If strenuous efforts have been made to understand a law report thoroughly, the following benefits will be achieved: (1) the case note will contain all the ingredients to enable it to be competently applied to any problem question or incorporated into any relevant essay; (2) understanding of the topic and arguing techniques will be increased; (3) competent execution of assessments and examinations (if your analysis of the questions asked is not wrong!)

7 CASE NOTING It is at this point that a case note can be made. The case note has to contain all of the information that enables the case to be used. One of the most important tasks of a law student or, indeed, a legal professional is the ability to read a case and make a usable record of it. The cases that are reported are invariably important as non-important cases remain as court transcripts. The case note must note all of the important issues for the application of precedent, such as: • date of court and formal citation; • hierarchy of court, judges; • facts; • issues before the trial court; • identification of applicable legal rules; • issues, if different before appellate court(s); • procedural history of the case (in what other courts has the matter been heard); • judicial reasoning as to: why those rules applied to those facts in that way. A case note cannot be used if it only records the facts and not the rationale for the outcome as everything in law depends upon the legal reasoning. A case can only be properly used in legal argument when the reasoning of the court is both known and understood. Many students misunderstand the purpose of case noting and think that it is sufficient to have the facts of the case and know the rules concerned. This is a little like having the ingredients for a cake and knowing that, when heated, something changes, but not knowing what to do with the ingredients. It is often not even necessary to rehearse the facts of a case in an argument in which the case is used. What is important is to know points of similarity and difference in facts so that adjustments can be made to the reasoning processes in applying the earlier case to the later situation. If strenuous efforts have been made to understand a law report thoroughly, the following benefits will be achieved: (1) the case note will contain all the ingredients to enable it to be competently applied to any problem question or incorporated into any relevant essay; (2) understanding of the topic and arguing techniques will be increased; (3) competent execution of assessments and examinations (if your analysis of the questions asked is not wrong!)