Rice v. Brakel
Arizona Court of Appeals
310 P.3d 16 (2013)

- Written by Sean Carroll, JD
Facts
Dr. Arlo Brakel (defendant) performed spinal surgery on Jay Rice (plaintiff). The surgery fixed Rice’s pain in his right leg, but Rice experienced pain in his left leg after the surgery. Subsequently, Rice learned that Brakel was dependent on unprescribed prescription drugs around the time of the surgery and had been disciplined by the board of medical examiners. Rice brought suit against Brakel for battery, negligence, and breach of contract. Regarding the battery claim, Rice argued he lacked informed consent for the surgery because Brakel did not disclose his drug dependency. The trial court granted Brakel’s motion for summary judgment. Rice appealed.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Howard, C.J.)
What to do next…
Here's why 964,000 law students have relied on our case briefs:
- Written by law professors and practitioners, not other law students. 47,500 briefs, keyed to 1,006 casebooks. Top-notch customer support.
- The right amount of information, includes the facts, issues, rule of law, holding and reasoning, and any concurrences and dissents.
- Access in your classes, works on your mobile and tablet. Massive library of related video lessons and high quality multiple-choice questions.
- Easy to use, uniform format for every case brief. Written in plain English, not in legalese. Our briefs summarize and simplify; they don’t just repeat the court’s language.
- AI-generated podcast version of every brief — listen on the go, between classes, or whenever reading isn’t an option. New
Understand your casebook readings in seconds
Use our case briefs to comprehend your casebook readings faster, supplement your notes and outlines, and outshine your peers in class.
Get instant access to over 47,500+ expert-written case briefs in a searchable database keyed to 1,006 law school casebooks.



