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Online Courses and Casebooks

Online courses.

These online courses are for lawyers looking to do a deep dive into a particular area, and for anyone looking to learn about how law works in practice. Offered by Harvard Law School in collaboration with Harvard’s Vice Provost for Advances in Learning and edX, these  courses are part of our ongoing commitment to lifelong learning.

Contract Law: From Trust to Promise to Contract

Learn about contracts in this online course from Harvard Law Professor Charles Fried, one of the world's leading authorities on contract law.

Financial Analysis and Valuation for Lawyers

Taught by Harvard Law School faculty, this Harvard Online course is designed to help you navigate your organization's or client’s financial goals while increasing profitability and minimizing risks.

Bioethics: The Law, Medicine, and Ethics of Reproductive Technologies and Genetics

An overview of the legal, medical, and ethical questions around reproduction and human genetics and how to apply legal reasoning to these questions.

Justice Today: Money, Markets, and Morals

Led by award-winning Harvard Professor Michael J. Sandel, this course will take a deep dive into various “needs” and whether they abuse market mechanisms.

Introduction to American Civics

Presented by Zero-L, this is HLS's short introduction to American Law and Civics.

The course explores the current law of copyright; the impact of that law on art, entertainment, and industry; and the ongoing debates concerning how the law should be reformed.

A networked course on patent law hosted jointly by Harvard Law School, the Berkman Klein Center on Internet and Society, and the HarvardX Distance-Learning Initiative.

HLS Executive Education Online Programs

Computer science for lawyers.

Computer Science for Lawyers will equip you with a richer appreciation of the legal ramifications of clients’ technological decisions and policies.

International Finance: Policy, Regulation, and Transactions

International Finance will give participants a framework for thinking about the policy issues that will shape the financial system of the 21st century.

Online Resources for Teaching Law

Constitutional rights in black and white.

A video casebook about the legal decisions that define and govern our constitutional rights. Each video tells the story of an important Supreme Court case, and then shows you how to read the case yourself.

Open Casebook

Open Casebook helps law faculty create high quality, open-licensed digital textbooks for free.

The Case Studies

This program publishes and distributes experimental materials developed by HLS faculty for HLS courses.

Looking for more options?

Additional course offerings are available through our Executive Education and Program on Negotiation.

Executive Education Programs

Program on negotiation.

Recent Cases

Baker v. city of mckinney.

Fifth Circuit Rejects Takings Claim Under "Necessity Exception"

O.I. European Group B.V. v. Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela

Third Circuit Rules Acts by Derecognized Government Dissolve Sovereign Instrumentality's Immunity

Arkansas State Conference NAACP v. Arkansas Board of Apportionment

Eighth Circuit Holds Voting Rights Act Does Not Contain a Private Cause of Action to Enforce Section 2

Kiviti v. Bhatt

Fourth Circuit Holds that Article III Mootness Doctrine Does Not Apply to Bankruptcy Proceedings.

Colindres v. United States Department of State

D.C. Circuit Defers to Consulate's Visa Denial.

K & R Contractors, LLC v. Keene

Fourth Circuit Declines to Consider Constitutionality of Removal Protections Because of Lack of Injury.

Lee ex rel. Gap, Inc. v. Fisher

Ninth Circuit Enforces Forum Selection Clause Blocking Derivative Suits.

Doe v. William Marsh Rice University

Fifth Circuit Advances Novel Theory of Liability for Anti-Male Discrimination.

Eldridge v. Howard

Ninth Circuit Holds that D.C. Superior Court is Not a "State Court" for Purposes of 28 U.S.C. § 2253.

Appalachian Voices v. United States Department of the Interior

Fourth Circuit Holds Congress Stripped Jurisdiction to Hear Pipeline Challenge.

Case Studies

Explore case studies of previous cases which Allan Rouben has represented. Find examples of case studies in all focus areas of law.

Legroulx v. Pitre: Striking Jury Notice, Charter of Rights and Freedoms and Rules of Civil Procedure

Background: A complicated action was proceeding in Ottawa before Justice Denis Power and a jury. The plaintiff’s injuries, arising out of a car accident, raised difficult issues of causation and required that complex medical evidence be heard. The plaintiff’s lawyers considered the medical issues were too complex for the jury and brought a motion to …

Legroulx v. Pitre: Striking Jury Notice, Charter of Rights and Freedoms and Rules of Civil Procedure Read More »

Lucia’s Case: Appeal, Civil Litigation, Jurisdiction and Forum non Conveniens

Background: Lucia resides in Ontario with her family, and was involved in a car accident in Michigan. She brought suit in the Ontario Superior Court of Justice against the driver and owner of the vehicle, as well as her own insurer given that the Michigan defendants claimed the accident was caused by an unknown vehicle. …

Lucia’s Case: Appeal, Civil Litigation, Jurisdiction and Forum non Conveniens Read More »

Patrizia’s Case: Appeals, Civil Litigation, Negligence and Minimum Maintenance Standards

Background: Patrizia was driving to work early on a snowy morning in April. The roads in Milton were snow covered and slippery. Weather forecasts from the day before predicted an 80% chance of snow, yet the Town of Milton had not scheduled an evening patrol to monitor the roads and clear the snow. Tragically, as …

Patrizia’s Case: Appeals, Civil Litigation, Negligence and Minimum Maintenance Standards Read More »

F.A.’s Case: Criminal Law, Appeals, Sexual Assault and Ineffective Assistance of Counsel

Background: F.A. worked in a medical facility with a much younger female co-worker. There was flirting between them. They went out together one evening, meeting up in a park and later driving around in F.A.’s car. He said he had a surprise for her at the office so they parked close by. Instead of going …

F.A.’s Case: Criminal Law, Appeals, Sexual Assault and Ineffective Assistance of Counsel Read More »

Clare’s Case: Labour Law, Duty of Fair Representation and Ontario Labour Relations Board

Background: Clare had been working for General Motors for 23 years before his termination. The company claimed that he had threated a supervisor after being told that a urine sample he had given was diluted. Clare denied the allegation and asked the Union, Canadian Auto Workers Local 222, to grieve the termination. He communicated frequently …

Clare’s Case: Labour Law, Duty of Fair Representation and Ontario Labour Relations Board Read More »

Library electronic resources outage May 29th and 30th

Between 9:00 PM EST on Saturday, May 29th and 9:00 PM EST on Sunday, May 30th users will not be able to access resources through the Law Library’s Catalog, the Law Library’s Database List, the Law Library’s Frequently Used Databases List, or the Law Library’s Research Guides. Users can still access databases that require an individual user account (ex. Westlaw, LexisNexis, and Bloomberg Law), or databases listed on the Main Library’s A-Z Database List.

• Georgetown Law Library
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Case Law Research Guide

Introduction.

• Print Case Reporters
• Online Resources for Cases
• Finding Cases: Digests, Headnotes, and Key Numbers
• Finding Cases: Terms & Connectors Searching

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• Preeminent Treatise

Every law student and practicing attorney must be able to find, read, analyze, and interpret case law. Under the common law principles of stare decisis, a court must follow the decisions in previous cases on the same legal topic. Therefore, finding cases is essential to finding out what the law is on a particular issue.

This guide will show you how to read a case citation and will set out the sources, both print and online, for finding cases. This guide also covers how to use digests, headnotes, and key numbers to find case law, as well as how to find cases through terms and connectors searching.

To find cases using secondary sources, such as legal encyclopedias or legal treatises, see our Secondary Sources Research Guide . For additional strategies to find cases, like using statutory annotations or citators, see our  Case Law Research Tutorial . Our tutorial also covers how to update cases using citators (Lexis’ Shepard’s tool and Westlaw’s KeyCite).

Basic Case Citation

A case citation is a reference to where a case (also called a  decision  or an  opinion  ) is printed in a book. The citation can also be used to retrieve cases from  Westlaw  and  Lexis . A case citation consists of a volume number, an abbreviation of the title of the book or other item, and a page number.  

The precise format of a case citation depends on a number of factors, including the jurisdiction, court, and type of case. You should review the rest of this section on citing cases (and the relevant rules in  The Bluebook ) before trying to format a case citation for the first time. See our Bluebook Guide for more information.

The basic format of a case citation is as follows:

Parallel Citations

When the same case is printed in different books, citations to more than one book may be given. These additional citations are known as  parallel citations .

Example: 265 U.S. 274, 68 L. Ed. 1016, 44 S. Ct. 565.

This means that the case you would find at page 565 of volume 44 of the  Supreme Court Reporter  (published by West) will be the same case you find on page 1016 of volume 68 of  Lawyers' Edition  (published by Lexis), and both will be the same as the opinion you find in the official government version,  United States Reports . Although the text of the opinion will be identical, the added editorial material will differ with each publisher.

Williams Library Reference

Reference Desk : Atrium, 2nd (Main) Floor (202) 662-9140 Request a Research Consultation  

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Updated 10/22 (MK) Links 07/2023 (VL) Revised 07/2024 (JAS)

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Case Studies

The program’s portfolio of situational case studies presents narratives of real-life events and asks students to identify and analyze the relevant legal, social, business, ethical, and scientific issues involved. Playing the role of protagonist in each case study—such as a private attorney counseling a biotechnology company facing hazardous waste issues, or a federal official seeking to develop an effective fishery management plan—students formulate appropriate strategies for achieving workable solutions to conflicts, then discuss and debate their recommendations in class. This interactive approach to learning bolsters students’ acquisition of skills in critical areas: factual investigation, legal research, counseling, persuasive oral communication, and recognition and resolution of ethical dilemmas, to name a few.

The Stanford Law School Case Studies Collection is an exciting innovation in law school teaching designed to hone students’ problem-solving skills and stimulate creativity. The Collection includes situational case studies and interactive simulations (collectively referred to as “Case Materials”) that place students in the roles of lawyers and policy makers and teach fundamental lawyering skills such as investigating facts, counseling, and resolving ethical dilemmas.

In June of 1997 the  Environmental and Natural Resources Law Policy Program  hired an experienced environmental lawyer to develop “situational” case studies for use in classroom instruction to better prepare students for the practice of law in the real world. Most of the case studies have been field tested in the classroom and evaluated for effectiveness in increasing student mastery of fundamental lawyering skills and increasing student participation in classroom discussion. Feedback from students has been excellent. Stanford Law School plans to unveil case studies collections in the areas of Law and Business in the coming years.

You can use this site to download Case Materials for examination. With prior permission from Stanford Law School, instructors can also obtain copies of Case Materials they want to use in the classroom for free. This Case Studies Collection will be updated regularly as we add new Case Materials and revise existing Materials, so visit the site from time to time for new developments!

As used in our website, the phrase “case materials” refers to case studies and simulations, as well as accompanying exhibits and teaching notes. While both case studies and simulations can be used as tools in the “case study teaching method,” they are different in form and manner of use. A case study is a narrative that recounts the factual history of an event or series of events. It is typically used as the basis for in-class analysis and discussion. A simulation is a set of facts, roles and rules that establishes the framework for an in-class participatory exercise.

Research has shown that existing law school teaching methods and curricula do not adequately teach students the full complement of “lawyering” skills they need to competently practice law. The traditional appellate case method assumes that a problem has reached a point where litigation is the only alternative, and presents students with a scenario in which all relevant issues have been identified, the questions of law narrowly focused, and the questions of fact resolved. Skills-oriented courses and clinical programs (such as law clinics and externships) have made significant contributions to law schools’9 ability to teach lawyering skills. Their reach, however, has been limited by a combination of factors, including their high cost and the relatively few law students who actually take advantage of these programs.

While we do not envision the case study method displacing the appellate case method or clinical programs, we do believe that the case method can be used in conjunction with existing teaching methods to add considerable educational value. Case studies and simulations immerse students in real-world problems and situations, requiring them to grapple with the vagaries and complexities of these problems in a relatively risk-free environment – the classroom.

Incorporation of case studies and simulations into environmental law school curriculums can bolster student skill acquisition in the critical areas listed below. Based on a 1990-1991 American Bar Association questionnaire, the MacCrate Task Force concluded that traditional law school curricula and teaching methods fall short in teaching these fundamental lawyering skills:

• problem solving
• legal research
• factual investigation
• persuasive oral communications
• negotiation
• recognizing and resolving ethical dilemmas
• organization and management of legal work

The case study teaching method is adapted from the case method developed and used successfully for many years by the nation’s leading business schools. The method uses a narrative of actual events to teach and hone the skills students need to competently practice law. Students identify for themselves the relevant legal, social, business, and scientific issues presented, and identify appropriate responses regarding those issues. Suggested questions for class discussion are prepared in connection with each case study, itself the product of long, probing interviews of the people involved in the actual events. These narratives, or case studies, may be long or short, and portray emotion, character, setting and dialogue. Students present their thoughts on key issues during class discussion, usually from the viewpoint of the key protagonist in the case study.

Simulations are typically used to reinforce and synthesize concepts, skills and substantive law already covered in a course. The simulations are designed for limited instructor and maximum student involvement during the exercise itself. However, once the exercise has drawn to a close, ample time should be allotted for a debriefing session. During the debriefing, instructors and students can engage in a candid discussion of the relative effectiveness of different approaches used during the simulation, clear up any lingering questions about substantive issues, and probe ethical and/or policy issues raised by the simulation.

Requesting Permission to Copy or to Use Materials

Send your request for permission to use or copy Case Materials to  [email protected] . To assist us in reviewing such requests and tracking the actual use of our Case Materials, please provide a description of the course (of up to 500 words) for which the Case Materials will be used. In addition, please include a brief description of the kind of course for which the Case Materials are intended, including:

• Whether the course is an elective or required course, undergraduate, graduate, or continuing education.
• The nature of the academic program and institution in which the course will be taught, such as law school, business school, Earth Sciences department, public interest law firm, etc.
• The number of times the course has been offered.
• Expected enrollment for the course.
• The history of the course’s development.

How to write a case brief for law school: Excerpt reproduced from Introduction to the Study of Law: Cases and Materials,

Third Edition (LexisNexis 2009) by Michael Makdisi & John Makdisi

C. HOW TO BRIEF

The previous section described the parts of a case in order to make it easier to read and identify the pertinent information that you will use to create your briefs. This section will describe the parts of a brief in order to give you an idea about what a brief is, what is helpful to include in a brief, and what purpose it serves. Case briefs are a necessary study aid in law school that helps to encapsulate and analyze the mountainous mass of material that law students must digest. The case brief represents a final product after reading a case, rereading it, taking it apart, and putting it back together again. In addition to its function as a tool for self-instruction and referencing, the case brief also provides a valuable “cheat sheet” for class participation.

Who will read your brief? Most professors will espouse the value of briefing but will never ask to see that you have, in fact, briefed. As a practicing lawyer, your client doesn’t care if you brief, so long as you win the case. The judges certainly don’t care if you brief, so long as you competently practice the law. You are the person that the brief will serve! Keep this in mind when deciding what elements to include as part of your brief and when deciding what information to include under those elements.

What are the elements of a brief? Different people will tell you to include different things in your brief. Most likely, upon entering law school, this will happen with one or more of your instructors. While opinions may vary, four elements that are essential to any useful brief are the following:

(a) Facts (name of the case and its parties, what happened factually and procedurally, and the judgment)

(b) Issues (what is in dispute)

(c) Holding (the applied rule of law)

(d) Rationale (reasons for the holding)

If you include nothing but these four elements, you should have everything you need in order to recall effectively the information from the case during class or several months later when studying for exams.

Because briefs are made for yourself, you may want to include other elements that expand the four elements listed above. Depending on the case, the inclusion of additional elements may be useful. For example, a case that has a long and important section expounding dicta might call for a separate section in your brief labeled: Dicta. Whatever elements you decide to include, however, remember that the brief is a tool intended for personal use. To the extent that more elements will help with organization and use of the brief, include them. On the other hand, if you find that having more elements makes your brief cumbersome and hard to use, cut back on the number of elements. At a minimum, however, make sure you include the four elements listed above.

Elements that you may want to consider including in addition to the four basic elements are:

(e) Dicta (commentary about the decision that was not the basis for the decision)

(f) Dissent (if a valuable dissenting opinion exits, the dissent’s opinion)

(g) Party’s Arguments (each party’s opposing argument concerning the ultimate issue)

(h) Comments (personal commentary)

Personal comments can be useful if you have a thought that does not fit elsewhere. In the personal experience of one of the authors, this element was used to label cases as specific kinds (e.g., as a case of vicarious liability) or make mental notes about what he found peculiar or puzzling about cases. This element allowed him to release his thoughts (without losing them) so that he could move on to other cases.

In addition to these elements, it may help you to organize your thoughts, as some people do, by dividing Facts into separate elements:

(1) Facts of the case (what actually happened, the controversy)

(2) Procedural History (what events within the court system led to the present case)

(3) Judgment (what the court actually decided)

Procedural History is usually minimal and most of the time irrelevant to the ultimate importance of a case; however, this is not always true. One subject in which Procedure History is virtually always relevant is Civil Procedure.

When describing the Judgment of the case, distinguish it from the Holding. The Judgment is the factual determination by the court, in favor of one party, such as “affirmed,” “reversed,” or “remanded.” In contrast, the Holding is the applied rule of law that serves as the basis for the ultimate judgment.

Remember that the purpose of a brief is to remind you of the important details that make the case significant in terms of the law. It will be a reference tool when you are drilled by a professor and will be a study aid when you prepare for exams. A brief is also like a puzzle piece.

The elements of the brief create the unique shape and colors of the piece, and, when combined with other pieces, the picture of the common law takes form. A well-constructed brief will save you lots of time by removing the need to return to the case to remember the important details and also by making it easier to put together the pieces of the common law puzzle.

D. EXTRACTING THE RELEVANT INFORMATION: ANNOTATING AND HIGHLIGHTING

So now that you know the basic elements of a brief, what information is important to include under each element? The simple answer is: whatever is relevant. But what parts of a case are relevant? When you read your first few cases, you may think that everything that the judge said was relevant to his ultimate conclusion. Even if this were true, what is relevant for the judge to make his decision is not always relevant for you to include in your brief. Remember, the reason to make a brief is not to persuade the world that the ultimate decision in the case is a sound one, but rather to aid in refreshing your memory concerning the most important parts of the case.

What facts are relevant to include in a brief? You should include the facts that are necessary to remind you of the story. If you forget the story, you will not remember how the law in the case was applied. You should also include the facts that are dispositive to the decision in the case. For instance, if the fact that a car is white is a determining factor in the case, the brief should note that the case involves a white car and not simply a car. To the extent that the procedural history either helps you to remember the case or plays an important role in the ultimate outcome, you should include these facts as well.

What issues and conclusions are relevant to include in a brief? There is usually one main issue on which the court rests its decision. This may seem simple, but the court may talk about multiple issues, and may discuss multiple arguments from both sides of the case. Be sure to distinguish the issues from the arguments made by the parties. The relevant issue or issues, and corresponding conclusions, are the ones for which the court made a final decision and which are binding. The court may discuss intermediate conclusions or issues, but stay focused on the main issue and conclusion which binds future courts.

What rationale is important to include in a brief? This is probably the most difficult aspect of the case to determine. Remember that everything that is discussed may have been relevant to the judge, but it is not necessarily relevant to the rationale of the decision. The goal is to remind yourself of the basic reasoning that the court used to come to its decision and the key factors that made the decision favor one side or the other.

A brief should be brief! Overly long or cumbersome briefs are not very helpful because you will not be able to skim them easily when you review your notes or when the professor drills you. On the other hand, a brief that is too short will be equally unhelpful because it lacks sufficient information to refresh your memory. Try to keep your briefs to one page in length. This will make it easy for you to organize and reference them.

Do not get discouraged. Learning to brief and figuring out exactly what to include will take time and practice. The more you brief, the easier it will become to extract the relevant information.

While a brief is an extremely helpful and important study aid, annotating and highlighting are other tools for breaking down the mass of material in your casebook. The remainder of this section will discuss these different techniques and show how they complement and enhance the briefing process.

Annotating Cases

Many of you probably already read with a pencil or pen, but if you do not, now is the time to get in the habit. Cases are so dense and full of information that you will find yourself spending considerable amounts of time rereading cases to find what you need. An effective way to reduce this time is to annotate the margins of the casebook. Your pencil (or pen) will be one of your best friends while reading a case. It will allow you to mark off the different sections (such as facts, procedural history, or conclusions), thus allowing you to clear your mind of thoughts and providing an invaluable resource when briefing and reviewing.

You might be wondering why annotating is important if you make an adequate, well-constructed brief. By their very nature briefs cannot cover everything in a case. Even with a thorough, well-constructed brief you may want to reference the original case in order to reread dicta that might not have seemed important at the time, to review the complete procedural history or set of facts, or to scour the rationale for a better understanding of the case; annotating makes these tasks easier. Whether you return to a case after a few hours or a few months, annotations will swiftly guide you to the pertinent parts of the case by providing a roadmap of the important sections. Your textual markings and margin notes will refresh your memory and restore specific thoughts you might have had about either the case in general or an individual passage.

Annotations will also remind you of forgotten thoughts and random ideas by providing a medium for personal comments.

In addition to making it easier to review an original case, annotating cases during the first review of a case makes the briefing process easier. With adequate annotations, the important details needed for your brief will be much easier to retrieve. Without annotations, you will likely have difficulty locating the information you seek even in the short cases. It might seem strange that it would be hard to reference a short case, but even a short case will likely take you at least fifteen to twenty-five minutes to read, while longer cases may take as much as thirty minutes to an hour to complete. No matter how long it takes, the dense material of all cases makes it difficult to remember all your thoughts, and trying to locate specific sections of the analysis may feel like you are trying to locate a needle in a haystack. An annotation in the margin, however, will not only swiftly guide you to a pertinent section, but will also refresh the thoughts that you had while reading that section.

When you read a case for the first time, read for the story and for a basic understanding of the dispute, the issues, the rationale, and the decision. As you hit these elements (or what you think are these elements) make a mark in the margins. Your markings can be as simple as “facts” (with a bracket that indicates the relevant part of the paragraph). When you spot an issue, you may simply mark “issue” or instead provide a synopsis in your own words. When a case sparks an idea — write that idea in the margin as well — you never know when a seemingly irrelevant idea might turn into something more.

Finally, when you spot a particularly important part of the text, underline it (or highlight it as described below).

With a basic understanding of the case, and with annotations in the margin, the second read-through of the case should be much easier. You can direct your reading to the most important sections and will have an easier time identifying what is and is not important. Continue rereading the case until you have identified all the relevant information that you need to make your brief, including the issue(s), the facts, the holding, and the relevant parts of the analysis.

Pencil or pen — which is better to use when annotating? Our recommendation is a mechanical pencil. Mechanical pencils make finer markings than regular pencils, and also than ballpoint pens. Although you might think a pencil might smear more than a pen, with its sharp point a mechanical pencil uses very little excess lead and will not smear as much as you might imagine. A mechanical pencil will also give you the freedom to make mistakes without consequences. When you first start annotating, you may think that some passages are more important than they really are, and therefore you may resist the urge to make a mark in order to preserve your book and prevent false guideposts. With a pencil, however, the ability to erase and rewrite removes this problem.

Highlighting

Why highlight? Like annotating, highlighting may seem unimportant if you create thorough, well-constructed briefs, but highlighting directly helps you to brief. It makes cases, especially the more complicated ones, easy to digest, review and use to extract information.

Highlighting takes advantage of colors to provide a uniquely effective method for reviewing and referencing a case. If you prefer a visual approach to learning, you may find highlighting to be a very effective tool.

If annotating and highlighting are so effective, why brief? Because the process of summarizing a case and putting it into your own words within a brief provides an understanding of the law and of the case that you cannot gain through the process of highlighting or annotating.

The process of putting the case into your own words forces you to digest the material, while annotating and highlighting can be accomplished in a much more passive manner.

What should you highlight? Similar to annotating, the best parts of the case to highlight are those that represent the needed information for your brief such as the facts, the issue, the holding and the rationale.

Unlike annotating, highlighting provides an effective way to color code, which makes referring to the case even easier. In addition, Highlighters are particularly useful in marking off entire sections by using brackets. These brackets will allow you to color-code the case without highlighting all the text, leaving the most important phrases untouched for a more detailed highlight marking or underlining.

Highlighting is a personal tool, and therefore should be used to the extent that highlighting helps, but should be modified in a way that makes it personally time efficient and beneficial. For instance, you might combine the use of annotations in the margins with the visual benefit of highlighting the relevant text. You may prefer to underline the relevant text with a pencil, but to use a highlighter to bracket off the different sections of a case. Whatever you choose to do, make sure that it works for you, regardless of what others recommend. The techniques in the remainder of this section will describe ways to make full use of your highlighters.

First, buy yourself a set of multi-colored highlighters, with at least four, or perhaps five or six different colors. Yellow, pink, and orange are usually the brightest. Depending on the brand, purple and green can be dark, but still work well. Although blue is a beautiful color, it tends to darken and hide the text.

Therefore we recommend that you save blue for the elements that you rarely highlight.

For each different section of the case, choose a color, and use that color only when highlighting the section of the case designated for that color. Consider using yellow for the text that you tend to highlight most frequently. Because yellow is the brightest, you may be inclined to use yellow for the Conclusions in order to make them stand out the most. If you do this, however, you will exhaust your other colors much faster than yellow and this will require that you purchase an entire set of new highlighters when a single color runs out because colors such as green are not sold separately. If instead you choose to use yellow on a more frequently highlighted section such as the Analysis, when it comes time to replace your yellow marker, you will need only to replace your yellow highlighter individually. In the personal experience on one of the authors, the sections of cases that seemed to demand the most highlighter attention were the

Facts and the Analysis, while the Issues and Holdings demanded the least. Other Considerations and

Procedural History required lots of highlighting in particular cases although not in every case.

Experiment if you must, but try to choose a color scheme early on in the semester and stick with it. That way, when you come back to the first cases of the semester, you will not be confused with multiple color schemes. The basic sections of a case for which you should consider giving a different color are:

(b) Procedural History

(c) Issue (and questions presented)

(d) Holding (and conclusions)

(e) Analysis (rationale)

(f) Other Considerations (such as dicta)

Not all of these sections demand a separate color. You may find that combining Facts and Procedural History or Issues and Holdings works best. Furthermore, as mentioned above, some sections may not warrant highlighting in every case (e.g., dicta probably do not need to be highlighted unless they are particularly important). If you decide that a single color is all that you need, then stick to one, but if you find yourself highlighting lots of text from many different sections, reconsider the use of at least a few different colors. Highlighters make text stand out, but only when used appropriately. The use of many colors enables you to highlight more text without reducing the highlighter’s effectiveness. Three to four colors provides decent color variation without the cumbersomeness of handling too many markers.

Once you are comfortable with your color scheme, determining exactly what to highlight still may be difficult. Similar to knowing what to annotate, experience will perfect your highlighting skills. Be careful not to highlight everything, thus ruining your highlighters’ effectiveness; at the same time, do not be afraid to make mistakes.

Now that we have covered the basics of reading, annotating, highlighting, and briefing a case, you are ready to start practicing. Keep the tips and techniques mentioned in this chapter in mind when you tackle the four topics in the remainder of this book. If you have difficultly, refer back to this chapter to help guide you as you master the case method of study and the art of using the common law.

More Helpful Links

The american legal system, how to brief a case, how to read a casebook 101, top 20 things you need to know about law school, learn to spot issues like a lawyer, why an internet search is not legal research, why go to law school, what’s the most challenging part of law school, what advice would you give yourself about law school.

• Discussion Forum

Why and How: Using the Case Study Method in the Law Classroom

Post by: Jackie Kim and Lisa Brem

Why should legal educators use case studies and other experiential teaching methods, such as role plays and simulations, in their classes?  Hasn’t the Langdell method served legal education well these last 140 years?  Certainly creating and using experiential materials requires a different set of skills from faculty, elicits a different response and level of engagement from students, and poses barriers to implementation. The ABA’s LEAPS Project [i] has a comprehensive list of objections to practical problem solving in the classroom: materials are time consuming and expensive to create and deploy; addition of a case study or simulation to a syllabus inherently displaces other material; and there are few incentives from law school leaders to introduce this type of teaching.

Yet, the argument promoting experiential materials and techniques is strong. The 2007 Carnegie Report [ii] recommended integrating lawyering skills practice into the curriculum alongside doctrinal courses, and the ABA added simulation courses to the list of practical experiences that can and should be offered by law schools in its 2015 Guidance Memo [iii] .

In a 2007 Vanderbilt Law Review article [iv] , HLS Dean Martha Minow and Professor Todd D. Rakoff argued that Langdell’s approach to teaching students using appellate cases does not do enough to prepare law students for real-world problems: “The fact is, Langdell’s case method is good for some things, but not good for others. We are not talking about fancy goals here; we are talking about teaching students ‘how to think like a lawyer.’”

But does the case study method result in a higher degree of student learning? While we have not yet seen a study on the efficacy of the case study method vs. the Langdell method in law schools, research [v] from political science professor Matthew Krain suggests that case studies and problem-based activities do enhance certain types of learning over other types of pedagogy.  In his investigation, Krain compared the results of pre-and post-course surveys of students who participated in active learning with those who received a traditional lecture course. The case studies and problems that Krain used in his non-traditional classes included: case studies in the form of popular press articles, formal case studies, films, or problem-based case exercises that required students to produce a work product.

Krain found that:

Student-centered reflection, in which students have the opportunity to discuss their understanding of the case, allows both students and instructors to connect active learning experiences back to a larger theoretical context. Case learning is particularly useful for dramatizing abstract theoretical concepts, making seemingly distant events or issues seem more “authentic” or “real,” demonstrating the connection between theory and practice, and building critical-thinking and problem-solving skills (Inoue & Krain, 2014; Krain, 2010; Kuzma & Haney, 2001; Lamy, 2007; Swimelar, 2013).

This study suggests that case-based approaches have great utility in the classroom, and they should be used more often in instances where students’ understanding of conceptual complexity or knowledge of case details is critical. Moreover, case-based exercises can be derived from a variety of different types of materials and still have great utility. If deployed selectively in the context of a more traditional classroom setting as ways to achieve particular educational objectives, case-based approaches can be useful tools in our pedagogical toolbox.

For those who might be ready to try a case study, role play, or simulation, there are resources that can help.  Harvard Law School produces case studies for use throughout the legal curriculum. The HLS Case Studies program publishes these teaching materials, and makes them available to educators, academic staff, students, and trainers. Outside of Harvard Law School, links to resources for educators implementing the case study method can be found on the Case Studies Program Resources page. Listed are case study affiliates at Harvard, legal teaching and learning tools, tips for case teaching, and free case materials. Examples include the Legal Education, ADR, and Practical Problem Solving (LEAPS) Project [vi] from the American Bar Association , which provides resources for various topics on legal education, and the Teaching Post , an educators’ forum offered by the Harvard Business School where professors can seek or provide advice on case study teaching.

“… [O]ur society is full of new problems demanding new solutions, and less so than in the past are lawyers inventing those solutions. We think we can, and ought to, do better.” – Dean Martha Minow & Professor Todd Rakoff. [vii]

[i] “Overcoming Barriers to Teaching ‘Practical Problem-Solving’.” Legal Education, ADR & Practical Problem-Solving (LEAPS) Project, American Bar Association, Section of Dispute Resolution. Accessed March 16, 2017, http://leaps.uoregon.edu/content/overcoming-barriers-teaching-%E2%80%9Cpractical-problem-solving%E2%80%9D. [ii] William M. Sullivan, Anne Colby, Judith Welch Wegner, Lloyd Bond, and Lee S. Shulman, “Educating Lawyers,”  The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching (2007). [iii] American Bar Association, “Managing Director’s Guidance Memo,”  Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar  (2015). [iv] Martha Minow and Todd D. Rakoff, “A Case for Another Case Method,” Vanderbilt Law Review 60(2) (2007): 597-607. [v] Matthew Krain, “Putting the learning in case learning? The effects of case-based approaches on student knowledge, attitudes, and engagement,” Journal on Excellence in College Teaching 27(2) (2016): 131-153. [vi] “Overcoming Barriers to Teaching ‘Practical Problem-Solving’.” [vii] Minow and Rakoff.

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Writing Effective Legal Case Briefs for Law Students

How to write a case brief, complete with examples.

tl;dr - Case briefs help your understanding of legal concepts and enable you to better prepare for exams. Here are some example case briefs .

As a new law student, one of the essential skills you need to develop is the ability to write effective legal case briefs. A case brief is a concise summary of a legal case that highlights the key issues, legal principles, and holdings of the court. Writing a good case brief can help you better understand the law, prepare for class discussions and exams, and become a more effective legal professional. In this article, we'll explore the key elements of a good legal case brief and provide some tips on how to write one effectively.

Legal case briefs are an essential tool for you as a law student, as they provide a concise and organized summary of a court case. Case brief examples serve as a means for you to understand the facts, issues, and legal principles underlying a court decision, and are crucial in helping you develop analytical and critical thinking skills.

One of the primary reasons why case briefs are important for you is that they help you understand the law in a practical and applied manner. In law school, you study legal principles and concepts in a theoretical sense. However, case briefs provide a means for you to see how these principles are applied in real-world situations. By analyzing and dissecting court decisions, you are able to gain a better understanding of how legal principles and concepts are applied in practice. For example, case brief examples of landmark cases like Marbury v. Madison or Brown v. Board of Education can help you understand the historical and legal significance of these cases.

Understand the Structure of a Legal Case Brief

Before we dive into the details of how to write a good legal case brief, it's important to understand its structure. A typical legal case brief, such as the examples of case briefs available on LSD , includes the following sections:

• Title and Citation: This section includes the name of the case, the court that decided the case, and the citation (i.e., the reference that identifies where the case is published).
• Facts: This section provides a brief summary of the key facts of the case, including who the parties are, what they did, and how the case came to court.
• Issues: This section identifies the legal issues that the court was asked to decide, and focuses on the questions that the court addressed in its decision.
• Holding: This section summarizes the court's decision on the legal issues presented in the case.
• Analysis: This section provides an explanation of the court's reasoning in arriving at its holding, including the legal principles and rules that the court relied on.

Focus on the Key Facts and Issues

When writing a case brief, it's important to focus on the key facts and legal issues presented in the case. You should avoid including unnecessary details or information that is not relevant to the legal issues. Instead, focus on the facts and issues that are essential to understanding the court's decision. This is evident in many examples of case briefs written by legal professionals.

Identify the Legal Principles and Rules

In addition to focusing on the key facts and issues, it's important to identify the legal principles and rules that the court relied on in arriving at its decision. This will help you understand the court's reasoning and the legal principles that are relevant to the case. Many examples of case briefs available online also highlight the legal principles and rules that were applied in a particular case.

Use Clear and Concise Language

A good legal case brief should be written in clear and concise language, as seen in examples of case briefs written by legal professionals. You should avoid using legal jargon or technical terms that may be difficult for a layperson to understand. Instead, use plain language that accurately conveys the meaning of the court's decision.

Be Organized and Structured

To make your case brief more effective, it's important to be organized and structured in your writing. Use headings and subheadings to separate different sections of your brief, and make sure that each section flows logically from one to the next. This is evident in many examples of case briefs available online, which are organized and structured in a clear and logical manner.

So, what’s the point?

Developing analytical and critical thinking skills.

Writing case briefs helps you develop analytical and critical thinking skills. By analyzing court decisions and identifying key facts, issues, and legal principles, you are practicing your ability to think critically and to identify relevant legal issues. Case briefs provide a practical way to develop these skills and apply them to real-world legal problems.

To further develop your analytical and critical thinking skills, you can practice writing your own case briefs. Take a recent court decision and write a brief that summarizes the key facts, issues, and legal principles involved. This will help you become more proficient at identifying relevant information and organizing it in a structured manner.

Preparing for Class and Exams

In addition to being a valuable tool for developing analytical skills, case briefs also help you prepare for class discussions and exams. As you read cases and write briefs, you are gaining a deeper understanding of the law and the reasoning behind court decisions. This knowledge will help you participate more effectively in class discussions and will also help you prepare for law school exams.

To get the most out of case briefs when preparing for exams, you can practice writing case briefs for cases that you studied throughout the year, or to hypotheticals from past exams. This will help you apply the analytical skills you've developed to new situations and ensure that you are able to communicate your understanding of legal principles effectively.

In conclusion, case briefs are an essential tool for law students as they provide a practical application of legal principles, help develop analytical and critical thinking skills, and aid in preparing for class discussions and exams. By studying case brief examples, practicing writing your own briefs, and developing a deep understanding of the law in context, you can become a more proficient and effective student and legal professional. For examples, check out LSD's case brief database .

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Intel vs. VLSI Case Study: Important Case Study Implications

A U.S. Court of Appeals decision to overturn a $2.18 billion judgment won by VLSI against Intel could have important case study implications for patent law and intellectual property litigation. 

The Western District Court of Texas issued the original judgment. The Texas business and business law communities will carefully monitor how this case may change the legal landscape and affect future lawsuits. 

Background on the Intel vs. VLSI Case

Intel Corporation is an American company that designs, manufactures, and markets computer technologies. VLSI Technology, Inc. began as an integrated circuit (IC) manufacturer. Currently, VLSI Technology LLC is primarily involved in patent holding and patent litigation. According to Reuters , today, VLSI’s majority owner is Abu Dhabi’s Mubadala Investment Co. 

In 2021, VLSI sued Intel for patent infringement over semiconductor technology patents. The intellectual property involved in the case is related to two patents for technologies used in Intel microprocessors with “Lake” in the name. The court ruled in VLSI’s favor and ordered Intel to pay over $2 billion in damages. For one instance of infringement, the jury awarded $1.5 billion. For the other, the jury awarded $675 million.

In December 2023, Intel successfully appealed the judgments. A jury for the appeals court found insufficient evidence to support the $1.5 billion claim and overturned it. The jury found the $675 million judgment was faulty and ordered a new trial to determine an appropriate award. 

Broader Implications of the Intel vs. VLSI Rulings

There could be important case study implications from the Intel vs. VLSI judgment and its appeal. 

The Appeal Could Deter Future Foreign Challenges and Protect U.S. Patent Laws

Intellectual property litigation is a challenging and changing area of the law. More and more, foreign investors are using this type of litigation to mount claims against U.S. companies. 

Because patent law is complex, the lower courts and their juries do not always understand the overarching implications a judgment can have on patent law and intellectual property law as a whole. There is a fear that foreign companies may exploit these legal inconsistencies to their advantage. Weakening patent protections could give competing foreign technology markets, like China, an upper hand. 

The Intel vs. VLSI appeal decision overturns a bad ruling from the lower courts and affirms the strength of the U.S. patent system. In turn, this protects the American technology market. 

The Ruling Could Prevent Frivolous Lawsuits

Overturning the initial Intel vs. VLSI judgment could deter foreign entities from filing future frivolous (and overinflated) lawsuits for patent infringement. 

One of the issues with the lower court’s original determination was the amount awarded to VLSI. VLSI argued that the intellectual property used to create Intel’s semiconductors increased computing performance by 5.5 percent. The company stated that each percentage of increased performance amounted to an additional 0.764 percent increase in the consumer price of the end product. 

The jury used these figures presented by VLSI to determine the judgment. However, in its appeal, Intel argued that the jury calculated the damages based on its product’s end functionality and not the actual value of the intellectual property, which would be much less. 

Learn More From a Trusted Business Law Firm in Texas

Sul Lee Law Firm is a Texas-based business law firm that provides services to businesses in Texas. We also represent international companies that want to do business in the state. We focus on a wide range of business law and can advise clients regarding intellectual property law, commercial real estate, employment law, franchise law, and more. 

If you have questions about the Intel vs. VLSI case and how it may affect the future of intellectual property law, we can provide further insights. We can also assist with all of your business law needs. Contact us online or call today to learn more. 

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Greenwashing Exposed: A Close Look at the Existing Case Law (Part 1)

Ekaterina Aristova Leverhulme Early Career Fellow, Bonavero Institute of Human Rights, University of Oxford

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As of 31 May 2023, 2,341 cases have been captured in the climate change litigation database maintained by the Sabin Center for Climate Change Law. Over the last years, more cases have been filed against corporate actors, with litigation challenging ‘greenwashing’ becoming increasingly important . Greenwashing refers to the practice of misleading consumers and stakeholders by making false or exaggerated claims about a company’s environmental performance or products. Greenwashing in the context of climate change is called ‘ climate-washing ’ or ‘ carbon washing ’. This three-part blog explains the concept of greenwashing through a systemic review of existing case law. The first part outlines different categories of greenwashing cases. The second part continues to explore the emerging legal trends and patterns in greenwashing cases. The third part examines the forms of greenwashing assessed by the domestic courts and regulatory authorities.

Different categories of cases

There are three main categories of greenwashing cases focusing on (1) ambitious corporate commitments, (2) misrepresentations about the environmental or climate-friendly attributes of the products, and (3) deceptive disclosure of climate change risks.

Corporate commitments

The first category of cases emerged in recent years and is concerned with challenging corporate commitments to achieve net zero greenhouse gas emissions. According to a  2022 survey  from Accenture, more than a third (34%) of the world’s largest companies have a public net zero target—up seven percentage points since December 2021. Multiple campaigns, such as the UN-backed Race to Zero , the Science Based Targets initiative , the Climate Pledge ,  the  Pledge to Net Zero   and the   Climate Neutral Now   scheme , aim to mobilise non-state actors to commit to setting emissions reduction targets. Corporate climate pledges continue to increase in numbers, but so are concerns about their credibility.

In 2021, the Australasian Centre for Corporate Responsibility (ACCR), a shareholder advocacy NGO,  sued oil and gas company Santos over its claims that it provides clean energy natural gas and has a plan for net zero emissions by 2040. The landmark case is the first one in the world to challenge the transparency and truthfulness of the company’s net zero emissions plan. The ACCR inter alia asserts that Santos’ climate-related statements are misleading because the net zero plan is based on untested assumptions about using specific technologies to reduce emissions, and Santos has clear plans to expand its natural gas operations. The first lawsuit challenging the corporate net zero commitments in Europe is the French case against Total , commenced in 2022 by several environmental organisations.

Description of product attributes

The second—most numerous—category of greenwashing cases concerns the environmental attributes of a particular product, packaging, or service. As of 3 October 2023, the Sabin Center’s database recorded 13 claims from this category only in Germany, but in reality, the number is likely higher . The first wave of German greenwashing claims challenged the concept of product climate neutrality where offsetting and compensation schemes were involved (see, for instance, claims about grave lights , candles , frozen croquettes , detergent , heating oil , financial product , jam , meat products , sweets , bin liners , cleaning products ). Claimants typically argued that labelling the product as ‘climate neutral’ left consumers with the impression that the production and distribution occurred entirely without greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Most of the time, however, the GHG emissions were compensated by the defendants through carbon offsetting schemes, such as financial support for reforestation, but this information was not communicated in the publicly available materials. Many of these cases have already been decided, with the courts tending to agree with the claimants that advertisements were misleading. Manufacturers are advised to provide explanatory information about how climate neutrality is actually achieved by disclosing relevant information on the packaging, in a brochure, or via a link to a separate website. However, at least on two occasions, the German courts refrained from finding the advertisements were misleading and asserted that the term was not synonymous with ‘emission-free’ and that the former could also be replaced through compensation (claims about sweets and bin liners ).

More recently, the German NGO Deutsche Umwelthilfe  (DUH) revealed their plans to challenge allegedly misleading advertising claims of more than ten companies that their products (including air travel, fuels, food and cosmetics) are ‘climate-neutral’. In April 2023, DUH announced they had won the first case against  TotalEnergies over ‘climate-neutral’ and ‘CO2-compensated’ heating oil claims.

Greenwashing litigation challenging the description of product attributes is not unique to Germany. In 2010, TerraChoice, a private marketing and environmental consultancy, published a report claiming that 95% of ‘green’ products were marketed via false or misleading claims. In the UK, for instance, the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) made an inquiry into a TV ad for a new product, the Thai Wonder Grains lunch pot, advertised by Quorn Food. The ad featured a woman claiming that the product ‘helps us reduce our carbon footprint, and that’s got to be good’. The ASA ruled that the claim about carbon footprint reduction was too vague, as it did not clarify what the reduction was being measured against. Moreover, the Thai Wonder Grains pot was a new product, and it was impossible to demonstrate whether Quorn’s would implement its commitment to reducing its carbon footprint.

Climate risk deception

The final category of greenwashing cases is concerned with climate risk deception and seeks to hold fossil fuel companies accountable for downplaying the impacts of climate change. Across the United States, states and municipalities filed over twenty cases arguing that oil giants are deceiving the public about the climate damages they knew their products would cause. They rely on multiple legal bases, including common law torts, consumer protection and securities fraud, but the US courts have yet to resolve the merits of the claims. Nearly all these cases were filed by the claimants in the state courts, but the defendants fought vigorously to remove the cases to the federal courts. Over the last years, circuit courts of appeal affirmed lower court decisions that the cases should be heard in the state courts. In response, fossil fuel companies filed petitions for a writ of certiorari to the US Supreme Court. On 24 April 2023, the US Supreme Court declined to hear the petitions, ending the jurisdictional battle.

The case filed by the state of California against Exxon Mobil, Shell, BP, ConocoPhillips, and Chevron in September 2023 is the latest and promises to be one of the most prominent lawsuits targeting the fossil fuel industry over their role in climate change. Whether similar cases will emerge outside the US is yet to be seen. For instance, a recent study suggests that Italian oil giant Eni knew about potential climate change risks since 1970.

This is the first blog post in a three-part series about greenwashing litigation (see Part 2 here  and Part 3 here ).

Dr Ekaterina Aristova is the Leverhulme Early Career Fellow at the Bonavero Institute of Human Rights, University of Oxford.

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Collin County Judge Awards Up To $1.6M Attorney Fees in Real Estate Case

The jury found Megatel Homes waived a right of first refusal agreement to buy the property from 13MC by breaching its contract, meaning the redevelopment can continue.

August 21, 2024 at 02:09 PM

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Contractual Disputes

Adolfo Pesquera

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• A Centurion American subsidiary was awarded attorney fees of up to $1.6 million in a real estate transaction dispute.
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Kolkata rape-murder case: Why doctors in India are in urgent need for a central protection law

The rape and murder of a young trainee doctor in Kolkata has brought focus to the safety of healthcare professionals. As per an Indian Medical Association study, over 75 per cent of doctors have faced some kind of violence in the workplace. But then why is there no central law to protect them? read more

The brutal rape and murder of a young trainee doctor at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata has sparked demands for robust laws ensuring the safety of healthcare workers in India. The resident doctors’ association (RDA) of AIIMS on Sunday (August 18) wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi urging him to enact a central law through an ordinance to protect healthcare workers and institutions in the country.

Bringing the PM’s attention to the “worrying rise in violence against doctors, healthcare workers, and medical institutions”, they requested his “support in ensuring the protection of these sacred spaces”.

This is not the first time that such a demand has been made. India has no central law that protects healthcare workers. Here’s why doctors are calling for one.

Violence against doctors  

India does not have a central database on violence against healthcare professionals while on duty.

The brutal rape and murder in Kolkata has triggered widespread anger, with doctors demanding justice for the victim and better workplace conditions.

Amid protests over the Kolkata horror, reports surfaced of a woman resident doctor allegedly being assaulted by a patient and his relatives – all of whom were drunk – in Mumbai’s Sion Hospital in the wee hours of August 18.

Last year, Vandana Das, a junior doctor on duty in Kerala, was stabbed to death by an inebriated patient.

West Bengal witnessed a mass resignation of doctors in 2019 after a mob attacked a junior doctor.

As per a study by the Indian Medical Association (IMA), a national-level association of allopathic doctors, more than 75 per cent of doctors have faced some kind of violence in the workplace. The patient’s relatives were involved in most such incidents, reported the German broadcaster Deutsche Welle (DW).

Why is there no central law?

In India, health and law and order are state subjects under the Constitution. Hence, the state government or Union Territory administration is responsible for preventing violence.

Several states have their own laws to provide safety to healthcare workers. However, as Hamad Bin Khalid, a senior Resident Doctor, the Department of Hospital Administration, AIIMS, New Delhi, wrote for Indian Express “the approach of individual states addressing this issue has led to a patchwork of laws that are often inconsistent and filled with loopholes.”

The Centre proposed the Health Services Personnel and Clinical Establishments (Prohibition of Violence and Damage to Property) Bill in 2019, seeking recommendations and objections. However, the Home Ministry shelved the bill, expressing concerns that similar protections might be demanded by other professional communities.

In 2022, the ‘Prevention of Violence Against Healthcare Professionals and Clinical Establishments Bill, 2022’ was introduced in the Lok Sabha. Also known as the Central Protection Act for Doctors, the proposed legislation aimed to define violent acts against healthcare professionals and lay down punishment for such acts, as per a Hindustan Times (HT) report.

But the bill was not pursued as the then health minister Mansukh Mandaviya said most of its objectives were covered in the Epidemic Diseases (Amendment) Ordinance 2020.

ALSO READ: Kolkata rape-murder case: The many questions parents of the victim are now asking Mamata Banerjee

Why is a law needed?

Violence against healthcare workers in the workplace has existed in India for long. As DW mentioned, medical staff in government hospitals, especially junior doctors, interns, and final-year medical students, are most at risk of workplace violence.

In their letter to PM Modi, AIIMS RDA said that doctors are particularly vulnerable as they work in environments filled with life-and-death challenges.

Experts point to several factors that contribute to violence against healthcare professionals, including the “poorly funded” public health system in India. A lack of proper management owing to limited resources and staff, expensive healthcare costs, and increased stay at private hospitals, could lead to violent situations, reported DW.

“The violence is due to multiple factors. The most important is an overall loss of trust in the healthcare delivery system. Over-privatisation with major elements of secondary and tertiary care being provided by for-profit healthcare providers has led to escalating costs and significant out-of-pocket expenditures on healthcare,” Sumit Ray, a medical superintendent and critical care specialist at Holy Family hospital, told the German broadcaster last year.

According to Ray, many poor families are often forced to sell assets and borrow money for medical treatment. “This has led to significant indebtedness and when the outcome of the treatment is not what the family expects, it leads to violence. This is compounded by the fact that people don’t see a recourse through judicial intervention,” he said.

Amid the Kolkata case, Dr Praveen Gupta, principal director and chief of neurology, Fortis Hospital, told The Hindu , “We have repeatedly requested a safe work environment. This incident is a wake-up call. Doctors, particularly junior doctors working night shifts, and nurses — whether female or male — are increasingly under threat, not just physically but mentally as well. There is growing concern about their safety, lives, and mental health.”

The IMA, in its list of demands to the Union government, has called for declaring healthcare centres as safe zones with mandatory security measures such as installing CCTVs and deploying security personnel. “The victim was on a 36-hour duty shift, and had no safe space to rest. The working and living conditions of resident doctors need a complete overhaul,” the association said.

After the Kolkata incident, the Centre has taken steps to enhance the security of healthcare workers in the workplace.

On August 16, the Union health ministry issued an order that “in the event of any violence against any healthcare worker while on duty, the head of the institution shall be responsible for filing an institutional FIR within a maximum of six hours of the incident.”

With inputs from agencies

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