Case Note Guide - how to write a case note PDF

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how to write a case note ...

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Commercial Law - LAW2447 Case Note Guide: How to Write a Good Case Note? A. What is a case note? 

In a case note assessment, students will be provided an actual judgement (usually a shortened version), and required to write a note about the case.

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A case note is a critical analysis of a court’s judgment. It means you have to analyse whether the case (the judgement), in your opinion and by reference to your own logical and legal analysis, was correctly decided.

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Case note is given as an assessment task because it is an analytical exercise. Preparing a case note can help you not only understand the law, but also develop various legal skills, particularly, the ability to identify the legal issue, the ability to identify legal rules, and the ability to apply the legal rules to solve a legal problem (so-called IRAC skills). Case note is thus a learning assessment. You learn legal knowledge and legal skills in doing this assessment.

B. Structure of a Case Note

I.

Introduction Begin forcefully - a few lines may suffice for the introduction. You should briefly introduce the case that you will analyse (e.g., case name, the court in which it was decided, date of the judgement, and the judges decided the case).

II.

Identification of the legal issue(s) In this part, you should briefly address the following questions: 

Who are the Plaintiff and Defendant? o Note: in an appellate judgment, the person who appeals the decision by the primary court (the court first decided the case) is called appellant and the other person, the person who does not appeal the decision by the primary court, is called respondent. Thus, the terms plaintiff and defendant are not used in an appellate judgement.

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What has gone wrong and for whom?

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What argument(s) made by the plaintiff was/were the focus of this decision?

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What was/were the legal issue(s) that was/were examined by the judges in the case?

III.

A critical analysis of the judge’s application of the legal rules to solve the legal issues This is the most important part of your case note and has the majority of marks. Thus, you need to analyse the court’s reasoning and decision critically, creating an argument (as to whether the case was correctly decided). Analysis is often where you encounter the most difficulty. Remember – analyse, do not describe. Remain objective, but do not be afraid to express original ideas. If the judges’ reasoning makes sense, say so and support your conclusion. If not, say so and support your statements fully by logic, authority, or, where possible, by both. While you need not agree with the court, remember you need not always disagree. In this section, you should focus on addressing the following questions: 

What are key analyses that the court has made in its application of the legal rules to solve the legal issues.

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Critically analyse whether these analyses are logical and convincing?

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Are there legal issues and arguments that are raised in this case but the court did not consider?

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Who won the case? Having evaluated and analysed the case, would you agree/disagree with that determination? Explain why.

Be original. Demonstrate your ability for deep thinking and analysis.

IV.

Conclusion Briefly reinforce your argument as to whether the case was correctly decided without simply regurgitating it to the reader. Do not introduce new material or arguments.

C. Other important requirements for the case note: 

The case note needs to be written in full: no dot points, no table format or any other notetaking style is permitted.

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The quality of writing is much more important than the length.

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Students are required to use their own words to discuss and analyse the judgement. Direct quotation of the judges’ language is highly discouraged, and will be given a low mark.

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Please use your own words and ideas in your assignments. If you borrow (including using exact words or paraphrasing) someone else's work, particularly words, ideas, and arguments, you should cite the original source from which the words, ideas, or arguments are taken.

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As your instructors, we understand that in a law essay, we refer to legal rules frequently and Turnitin tends to pick up the legal rules as similarity. It is an advice for you that when you refer to a legal rule in your writing, please cite the source of the legal rule properly. If you do so, similarity with the legal rules will not be counted.

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The case note must contain appropriate referencing following the Australian Guide to Legal Citation, 3rd edition, or AGLC3. Detailed instructions about referencing can be found on Canvas....