Generally speaking, there are three criteria that we look at in determining whether to accept a case summary (a.k.a. case brief): accuracy, comprehensiveness, and authenticity. Accuracy means the summary should be a fair representation of the holding of a case. The statement of facts should be clear and concise; the issue should be the primary one in the case and not ancillary to the court's ultimate holding; and the holding and decision must be a true depiction of what was actually written. Comprehensiveness refers to the completeness or thoroughness of the case summary. For instance, it is not enough to state the bare holding of a case. The case briefer must elaborate on the reasoning behind the court's decision.

Below are links to some examples of recently accepted submissions. Please mimic the structure and style of these summaries when submitting your content:

Montana v. United States, 440 U.S. 147 (1979)
Frimberger v. Anzellotti, 25 Conn. App. 401, 594 A.2d 1029 (1991)


We will automatically reject your submission if:

• you use "P" and "D" or pi and delta symbols to denote plaintiff and defendant anywhere in your summary;
• your facts or holding and decision section of your case summary is less than three sentences (writing too much is better than not writing enough);
• any section of your case summary is missing. All sections must be completed, unless there are no separate opinions (i.e. concurrences or dissents), in which case you may leave that section blank;
• you do not identify the plaintiff and defendant in the case at the outset of the summary;
• your submission contains outline formatting in the text (i.e. bulleting, numbering).
• your Rule of Law section is more than one sentence and/or fact specific (i.e. your Rule of Law should be a stand alone principle and you should not reference the facts of the case for which you are writing the summary).

Here is a list of "don'ts" to help improve your submission

Do not use short hand or special characters. For example, pi and delta symbols should be changed to the name of the parties with a parenthetical indicating whether that party is the plaintiff or the defendant in the case.

CORRECT: Harris Teeter (plaintiff) sued Eddie Bauer (defendant) for breach of contract.
INCORRECT: P sued D for breach of contract.

Do not use abbreviations. Please spell out the full name of states, countries, and other proper nouns.

CORRECT: Jones returned to Goshen, New York, to claim the stolen property.
INCORRECT: Jones returned to Goshen, NY, to claim the stolen property.

Do not directly quote the court excessively or unnecessarily. Remember that you are supposed to be summarizing what the court said in your own words.
Do not put "FACTS," "ISSUE," or "HOLDING" in the fact, issue, or holding sections, respectively.
Do not use colloquialisms or expressions.
Do not use contractions.
Do not capitalize "plaintiff" and "defendant."
Do not write a Rule of Law specific to facts of the case. The Rule of Law should be a stand alone principle of law.
Do not use exclamatory or inquisitive phrasing.
Do not use sentence fragments. Write in complete sentences only.
Do not omit "separate opinions" (i.e. concurrences and dissents), if they exist.
Do not omit the court name and be sure to add tags.
Do not use ALL CAPS anywhere in your submission.
Do not cite the page numbers of your casebook in the text of your summary.

Examples of How Common Court Names Should Be Written

United States Supreme Court
United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit
United States District Court for the Southern District of New York
Court of Appeals of New York

*Spell out United States and all state names in full. Do not abbreviate.

A Few Final Words

Overall, a good rule of thumb when submitting anything to our site is this: the more work we have to do in editing your submission, the less likely it is that we'll accept it. But remember that you have nothing to lose by submitting a case summary. You can only gain. And please, before you submit anything, read our terms. If you have any questions or comments regarding our publishing standards, please email the editor at matt@quimbee.com.