Delegation Resource Manual: Judicial Manual
Page 104
YMCA PA Youth & Government Program
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Billings – Appellant
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Cotter – Respondent
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562 – Volume of Reporter Case is Found
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A.2d – Reporter Case is Found
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462 – First Page Case is Found in Reporter
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Pa. – Court (In this case, Pennsylvania Supreme Court)
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1987 – Year of Decision
Here is an example of a Supreme Court case. Notice that the Court is not with the year.
The reason is simple – “U.S.” signifies it is the United States Supreme Court. They have their own
“reporter.” N. Y. Times Co. v. Sullivan, 376 U.S. 254, 256 (1964).
We know you are not lawyers yet, so do not spend too much time worrying over citations.
However, you do need to make sure the judges can find your case – and where in the case you are
citing. The information in both of the samples would provide that.
To ensure all citations are uniform – and our justices can find the cases – please follow these
conventions when completing this page:
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Party 1 – the name of the first party in the case you are citing.
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Party 2 – the name of the second party in the case you are citing.
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Citation block – this is where you enter the first portion of the citation on the first page of
each case. It should begin with a number (volume) followed by an abbreviation (reporter
containing the case) and then another number (first page in the volume the case is in).
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Court block – this is where you enter the court that decided the case.
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Year block – the year the case was decided is entered here.
Step 5 – Summary of Facts: In this section, you will set forth a brief factual summary of the
events that occurred which gave rise to litigation. This factual summary should set forth the facts in
a light most favorable to your position. Do not distort facts or deliberately ignore facts that are not
favorable. As an advocate, though, it is your job to put the most positive “spin” on the facts in the
case.
Step 6 – Summary of Arguments: Now that you have written your arguments and factual
summaries, it is time to reflect on your case. The summary of arguments, which should not be long,
is the one to two pages the justices will re-read right before they go onto the bench. Consider this as
an executive summary. Read the portion of the sample below:
Notice how it started out with a summary of the issue you want the Court to consider and
then a general summary of the argument. It should not be much more extensive than that.
Step 7 – Conclusion: The conclusion is the last section of the brief. In it, you restate the fact
summary in an even briefer form, and you include the rule of law that you argued in the body of the
brief. The conclusion should also be one paragraph or perhaps two short paragraphs if you set forth
two issues in your brief.
