HOW TO MAKE A

CASE DIGEST
 WHAT IS A CASE?

primary and mandatory authority

general term for that class of official literary manifestations of law made up
of court rulings and those by persons/bodies performing judicial/quasi-
judicial functions
 READING A CASE

Reading cases is a critical part of your legal education

Cases provide elucidation on how the law is implemented in real life

Cases also show us how certain gray areas of the law are interpreted and
implemented
 WHY ARE CASE DIGESTS IMPORTANT?

MAKING CASE BRIEFS -UNDERSTAND -PREPARE FOR CLASS; -STUDY FOR EXAMS
IS THE PROCESS BY READING MATERIALS; AND
WHICH YOU:
 Those issued by the
WHAT C ASES
DO WE READ? Supreme Court
(hierarchy of courts)
 1) FACTS
- “What”
- Focus on the relevant

2) ISSUE(S)
FOUR - Matter in dispute
ESSENTIAL - “Whether or not…”
ELEMENTS
OF A CASE 3) HOLDING
DIGEST - Applied rule of law

4) RATIO
- “Why”; reason for the holding
- Careful not to confuse this with the
parties’ arguments
KNOW WHAT YOU ARE READING:
 Issue
- primary question or problem to be
addressed
- legal point of contention

Rule
THE IRAC
- pertinent concept/principle of law
FRAMEWORK
Application
- how the law was applied

Conclusion
- statement that resolves the problem
- what did the court do
 OPINION VS. DECISION

OPINION

• Refers to the informal expression of

views
• TYPES
• 1) Majority
• 2) Concurring
• 3) Dissenting
 OPINION VS. DECISION

The dispositive portion or the “fallo”

Contains such terms such as:

• Affirmed
• Granted
DECISION • Modified
• Dismissed
• Reversed
• Remanded
• Convicted
• Guilty
• Acquitted
 Parts of a case

Importance of reading the case

syllabus
PRACTIC AL
EXAMPLE:
WASSMER V. VELEZ Meaning of “Same; same”

Distinguishing relevant from

irrelevant facts
 Plaintiff Beatriz Wassmer and defendant
Francisco Velez decided to get married. Two
(2) days before their wedding, defendant left a
note for his bride-to-be, saying that the
wedding have to be postponed because his
mother disapproves of it.

FACTS:
The next day, he sent a telegram saying that
he will be returning soon, but defendant never
appeared nor was he heard from again.
Plaintiff sued for damages, which the court
granted. On appeal, defendant asserted that
he cannot be held liable for an action for
breach of promise to marry.
 Whether or not a breach
of promise to marry is
actionable: [NO]
ISSUES &
HOLDING:
Whether or not defendant
may nevertheless be held
liable for damages: [YES]
 Article 21 of the Civil Code provides that any person
who wilfully causes loss or injury to another in a
manner that is contrary to morals, good customs or
public policy shall compensate the latter for the
damage. This is NOT a case of mere breach of promise
to marry.

RATIO
As stated, mere breach of promise to marry is
not an actionable wrong. But to formally set a
wedding and go through all the preparation and
publicity, only to walk out of it when the matrimony is
about to be solemnized, is quite different. This is
palpably and unjustifiably contrary to good
customs for which defendant must be held answerable
in damages in accordance with said Article 21.
 • AS APPLIED in this case, plaintiff already
arranged everything for the wedding,
including the wedding gowns, invitations,
matrimonial bed, and so on. A wedding
has been formally set, and all the
preparations have been publicly made,
RATIO only for the groom to walk out two (2)
days before the wedding. Clearly, this is
contrary to good customs, since
defendant acted in a reckless and
oppressive manner.
 Get the right case

Check the date, citation, and G.R. number

Pitfall: similar titles; MR

Importance of using case syllabus

TIPS/THINGS TO
REMEMBER: Digest the original in full

Do not simply digest the digest

Highlight using different colors

for easy reference

BAR EXAM STRATEGIES
•SC 2013 Bar Bulletin 1:
The basic elements of problem solving that the Examiners shall particularly look for are the examinee's (FLIA):
(1) proper understanding and appreciation of the facts, particularly of the components or details
that can be material in resolving the given problem;
(2) his or her appreciation of the applicable law/s that may come into play;
(3) recognition of the issue/s posed; and the
( 4) resolution of the issues through the analysis and application of the law to the given facts.

The examinee‘s presentation and articulation of his or her answer shall also be given weight.
The bar examinee must be logic-
driven or argument/driven, not
conclusion-driven.

Your answer should demonstrate

your ability to apply the law to the
given facts, and to reason logically
in a lawyerlike manner to a sound
conclusion from the given premises.
 HOW TO EFFECTIVELY ANSWER BAR
EXAM ESSAYS

• There are two (2) kinds of legal writing:

1) Predictive writing aims to predict the legal
characterization that a decision-maker may give
to an act or object (as for instance, a legal opinion
on whether a particular contract is valid)
2) Persuasive writing aims to persuade a decision
maker to decide in favor of the writer (for
example, writing a motion to dismiss a complaint
or drafting a post-trial memorandum)
Bar exam writing is essentially persuasive writing.
The narrow aim is to persuade the examiner of:
The broad aim is to persuade the
• (1) the correctness of the examinee’s conclusion;
bar examiner to give a passing mark and
to the examinee. • (2) the soundness or validity of the examinee’s
legal reasoning.

An effective bar exam answer is one which is

persuasive.
 RESPONSIVE

LOGICAL

FIVE (5) QUALITIES

OF AN EFFECTIVE ORGANIZED
B AR EXAM ANSWER

LITERATE

BRIEF
 A good bar exam answer must be directly responsive to
the call of the problem and the immediate issue
presented by the problem. The “call” is the last sentence
of the problem which asks a question or instructs the
examinee to do something (e.g., decide, resolve, etc.)

Sometimes an examinee tends to get too wrapped up in

his answer, at the expense of failing to follow the format
1. RESPONSIVE required by the question.

EXAMPLE: If the question directs the examinee to

resolve a motion, the examinee should not merely
discuss the grounds of the motion, but should state
whether the motion should be granted or denied.
 The logical quality of an answer
should be distinguished from its
correctness.

This distinction is important because

law students tend to be conclusion-
2. LOGICAL driven rather than logic-driven.

Many think that just stating the correct conclusion

would already merit a substantial grade from the
examiner. The conclusion may be correct, but the
argument in support thereof illogical. Such an answer
will not get much credit from the examiner. On the
other hand, an examiner would give full or substantial
credit to a logical and organized answer even if the
conclusion was wrong.
 The biggest mistake many examinees commit is
to begin writing the minute they finish reading
the question, in the hope that as they go along
thoughts will come to them and the writing will
compose itself.

Answers written without planning tend

to be too long, unfocused, and
3. ORGANIZED disorganized.

Outlining the answer before writing gives the

test-taker an opportunity to think through the
question, discard irrelevant issues and concepts,
focus on the critical facts, and organize the
answer in a logical fashion.
 A good answer will not only state the proper rule
or concept, but use the right legal phrases like
"prescription," "res judicata," "hearsay," etc.

The examiner is looking to see that the test-taker

knows not only the substance of the law, but also
how lawyers speak about legal standards and set
forth the rules that are to be followed.

4. LITERATE

As a practical matter, examiners are also looking

for those legal ”BUZZWORDS" and phrases
while they are grading and may in fact mark the
answer down if the phrases are not in the answer,
even if the concept is correctly explained.
Instead of: “A counterclaim which is related to the subject
matter of the complaint is barred if not set up in the answer.”

Say: “a compulsory counterclaim is barred if not set up in the

answer.

Instead of: “The criminal case of murder should be thrown out

because the accused had been acquitted of murder arising
from the same act,”

Say, “the information for murder should be quashed on the

ground of double jeopardy.”

Note that the use of legal terms promotes not only precision
but also brevity.
 A bar examiner has to correct about 7,000+ booklets.
Imagine therefore the irritation and frustration of an examiner
when he or she has to read a long-winded answers!

The bar examinee’s answer must get straight to the point.

In analyzing a bar exam problem, the examinee must therefore

5. BRIEF identify the strong point of his answer.

• A strong point is the legal rule reduced to its simplest or shortest

form. Initially, an examinee may come up with several points, but
generally only one of them is the strong point; other points are
irrelevant or weak.
• Many examinees write answers in which the strong point is at the
tail end of their argument, almost as if the same were an
afterthought. The examiner, who is pressed for time, may
immediately discount an answer if he doesn’t see forthwith the
strong or key point.
READING &
ANSWERING
A BAR ESSAY • A-O-A Approach
QUESTION:
(Analyze, Outline, Argue)
OUTLINE OF
STEPS
 ANALYZING THE QUESTION (ANALYSIS)

1 2 3
1. Read the call of the question and 2. Use issue-markers if more than 3. Read the fact-pattern carefully in
determine the immediate issue. one call or immediate issue. relation to the call/immediate issue.
•Issue-indicators:
•• Argues • Contends • Objects
• Ground • Defense • Claims
 Outline your answer. Outline consists of:
OUTLINING
Outline is skeleton or (1) full statement of
framework of your conclusion
written answer.
(2) applicable rule
 Deductive Argument
CRAC Format (4 paragraphs)
• CONCLUSION
• RULE
• APPLICATION
PRESENTATION OF • CONCLUSION RE-STATED.
ANSWER (ARGUMENT)
Analogical Argument
CR Format (2 paragraphs)
• CONCLUSION
• RULE
 Q: Can a suit for injunction be
aptly filed with the Supreme Court
to stop the President of the
SAMPLE Philippines from entering into a
QUESTION peace agreement with the National
Democratic Front?
(2003 Remedial Bar Q11)
 SAMPLE ANSWER

Using the CRAC Format:

• NO, a suit for injunction cannot be aptly filed

with the Supreme Court.
• Under B.P. Blg. 129, an action which is
incapable of pecuniary estimation is within
the exclusive jurisdiction of and should be
filed with the Regional Trial Court.
• Here the action is for injunction which is
incapable of pecuniary estimation and thus
within the exclusive jurisdiction of the RTC.
• Hence the suit cannot be aptly filed with the
Supreme Court.
REMEMBER: • Answer only the question. Do not volunteer
additional information.

EXAMPLE::
Q: Will the motion to quash be granted?
• NO, the motion to quash will not be
granted. The lack of preliminary investigation
is not a ground for a motion to quash under
the Rules of Criminal Procedure.
[Preliminary investigation is only a statutory
right and can be waived. The accused should
instead file a motion for reinvestigation
within 5 days after he learns of the filing in
court of the case against him.] (S6 R112).
• The bracketed portion should be deleted
since it is not pertinent to the call of the
essay question.
 1.You eat regularly and healthily.

2.You sleep regular hours, including an occasional nap

if necessary (not in class, if you can help it).

L E T T E R TO A YO U N G L AW
STUDENT 3.You exercise regularly.
- B Y P RO F E S S O R C O R I N N E
COOPER
4.You take time away from your work for brain-
cleansing activities like sports and movies.

5.You do not kill all your brain cells by using alcohol as

a method to relieve stress.

6.You remember that the people in your life, family

and friends, are more important than law school.