Guide to making the most

4. REVIEW SEVERAL CASES (APPELLATE OPINIONS)
Instead, run a google search for your state and “court of appeals decision”. Most 
appellate cases are available for free.
In fact, Google Scholar has an entire search engine devoted entirely to legal cases. For 
the purposes of this exercise go to https://scholar.google.com and check the button 
marked “case law”. Then do a search for “183 N.W.2d 657”. That is a reporter’s 
citation² for the 1971 case Katko v. Briney. It is a famous case out of Iowa that involves 
a “spring gun” aka a “shotgun boobytrap”.
Run a few searches on Google Scholar for legal theories that interest you (e.g. “freedom 
of the press,” “golf course liability,” “driving while texting,” or “adverse possession.”
²
Case citations use this syntax: [volume] Case Reporter [page number]. So “183 N.W.2d 657” translates to: volume 183 of 
the Second Edition of the North West Reporter on page 657. That is where the case starts. 
LegalEaglePrep.com

---

5.
REVIEW SEVERAL 
TRIAL COURT 
BRIEFS
LegalEaglePrep.com

---

5. REVIEW SEVERAL TRIAL COURT BRIEFS
Most Law Schools require 1Ls to take a legal writing/research class along with the 
substantive areas. And although you’ll be reading almost nothing but Appellate Court 
decisions, you will most likely be writing briefs to hypothetical trial courts.
Therefore it’s a good idea to familiarize yourself with what trial court briefs look like.
Generally they come in two flavors: motions to dismiss and motions for summary 
judgment.
A “Motion to Dismiss” is also known in federal court as a “12(b)(6)” because the 
governing rules are found in Rule 12 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. A motion to 
dismiss is made without evidence, before discovery begins, and attacks the Complaint 
(the document the Plaintiff files to start the litigation and which lays out the factual and 
legal basis for a claim). The motion to dismiss essentially tells the court that the case 
should be dismissed even if everything the Plaintiff says is true.
Here is a sample 12(b)(6) motion to dismiss
LegalEaglePrep.com

---