How I Read Cases: 3 Helpful Tips That Worked for Me

Today is Saturday, and a thought occurred to me. Maybe it's a good time to share with you how I actually read fashion-related cases. I am hugely influenced by Professor. Hugh Hansen (my intellectual hero at Fordham Law) and his legal realism point of view. It worked for me and, maybe, it will for you as well.

1. Start from complaints

I know everyone is anxious to know what the ultimate ruling is, and understanding what the ruling actually says is indeed crucial. However, refrain from fast-forwarding to the last paragraph of any decision. I start with the complaint. I took a commercial litigation drafting class this semester, and you would be surprised to find out how much efforts are being put into writing a persuasive complaint. Of course, a complaint is "biased" in some ways because its writer carefully picks and chooses certain facts that are favorable to his or her client and cites the relevant legal authorities in support of the client's case. However, a complaint, especially a good one, sets the narrative: it presents a story of why your client should prevail. Oft-times, I find judges actually borrow that narrative in crafting their opinions. So, while being attentive to its somewhat "one-sided" nature, please start with reading the complaint.

2. Be familiar with district court decisions

I have taken Professor Hugh's class literally every semester, and he always directed us to go back to the district court decision of a case. Yes, for a time-crunched law school student, having to read both district court decisions and appellate ones isn't always a pleasant exercise. However, the value of doing so is so visible. By the very nature of how this legal system operates, district court judges, as courts of first instance for most cases, are most familiar with the facts of a case. Mountains of documents are submitted by the both sides to dictate what the facts are. Moreover, unless it is "clearly erroneous", appellate courts pay considerable deference to district courts' factual findings. So, if you start out by reading district court decisions, you can get a good sense of who's being good and who's being bad. Although judges do not outright say their decisions were penned to animate the notion of fairness, they do care about it. Most appellate court decisions provide a high-level factual overview that's relevant for their legal discussions, so please review district court decisions and, more importantly, try to track how their reasonings figure in appellate court opinions.

3. Read dissenting opinions

The fact that one case is decided in a certain way does not necessarily mean it will always be in similarly situated cases moving forward. Admittedly, knowing the precedents is instrumental, and most judges will try to stay true to what courts before them said about certain things. What do I mean by that? Judges do not blindly follow the precedents. If that were the case, there wouldn't be dissenting judges. In my view, judges write separate opinions to articulate that applying that particular precedent and its underlying rationale to the facts of this specific case does not make sense. So try to understand why they think the majority's view was incorrect. You'll see quite often that a hidden paragraph of a dissenting opinion will find its way in future cases.

Having said that, when reading fashion-related cases, it is also helpful to keep in mind that most cases are settled. Why? It is time-consuming and expensive to keep fighting in a courtroom. Big brands with deep pockets are much likely to appeal, but reaching a settlement is common for resourceful clients as well. In fact, Zara and Amiri have recently settled a trademark infringement case. I know reading cases can't be that entertaining, but this is how I have always prepared when I upload a post on this blog. For me, this approach is training me how to approach a client's case in future as a budding lawyer. On that note, enjoy your lovely snowy weekend, and stay safe!