Dear 1L,

After you complete research for your Memo, you may have WAY too many cases to try to manage.

Here’s how I got a handle on things + chose which cases to use in my memos and briefs as a lawyer.

I hope it will help you come up with a system that works best for you!

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🔹 I gathered my cases and divided them into 2 piles.

—In one I put the cases that were “good” for my client that I might use affirmatively.

—In the other, I put all the “bad” cases that I might need to distinguish.

👉 “Good” meant the court RULED or HELD for a party that was for my position on the issue.

🔹 At the top of each case, I’d write in colored marker:

1: “Good” or “bad.”
2: The case’s procedural posture.
3: Bullets w/ the key facts that drove the court’s outcome.
4: The date on which I’d Shepardized the case.*

The goal was to have written clearly—right on top there:

—everything I needed to see to jog my memory on what the case was about, and

—everything important that I’d ultimately make sure I said about the case in the brief I was writing.

That way, I could pick up the case quickly, know what it stood for, and start to see where and how I would use it.

It really helped me get a handle on all the cases (which you’ll find really do go every which way).

🔹 I then divided each pile further by court level, and put the sub-piles into reverse chronological order for close reading.

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Your selection of cases will not be an exact science, as you must take many factors into account: court level, date, outcome, and similarity of facts to your case.

But almost always, you should compare and contrast your case to the cases with FACTS most like yours.
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I hope that the above will be helpful for you.

Fondly,
💌 Amanda

*Adding the Shepardized date is more for practitioners than law students, but it’s a really good habit to get into now. It is a key timesaver for everyone later on.
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P.S. I encourage students to ask questions in the comments to my posts.

Your questions REALLY help me improve my clarity. So please don’t be hesitant.

❓ For example, are you clear on what “procedural posture” means?

❓ Anything else specific that you’d like a future letter on?

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