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What is a Case Brief Generator

and should you use one?
Tags: case briefs, shorter readings, class prep
Apr 2, 2023

Looking for the LSD Instant Brief Tool?

What is a case brief generator?

A law case brief generator is an online tool designed to help law students and legal professionals structure case briefs quickly and easily. Essentially, typical case brief generators are just pdf templates that help you format your briefs.

Typical generators works by asking people to input specific information about the case, such as the name of the case, the jurisdiction, the procedural history, the issues presented, and the holding. Then the generator uses organizes the information into a formatted case brief, which the user can then download, print, or save as a PDF. Some case brief generators may also provide additional features, such as the ability to add annotations, highlight key points, or share the brief with others.

Using a case brief generator can make formatting a little easier, but but you are still writing out the majority of the information yourself. This makes it a great tool for briefing cases, but not a great tool for reducing your workload.

How is LSD+ Instant Brief tool different?

Instead of a template under the guise of a generator, the Instant Brief tool actually generates case briefs. LSD+ has over 50,000 case briefs which is close to the most (if not the most) of any case brief company, but there are over 6,000,000 US cases that law schools around the country teach in full or in part. So the Instant Brief tool lets you brief nearly any US case that may be taught in your class even if it isn't a main focus or a 'big' case. If you might have to read it, then we want to be able to brief it for you.

How does the Instant Brief tool work?

We use state-of-the-are natural language processing tools to sift through the entire original case text, summarize at multiple levels with our 'Deep Dive' summary, and pull out the key information in an ICRA format. (ICRA is a little different than the typical IRAC structure. You can learn more about why we structure it differently here)

LSD has a lot of briefs (maybe the most anywhere) but we don't have them all. So, if you are looking for a brief and we don't have it, you just have to input the case name or the citation and we will start briefing it immediately. Check it out here.

Is the Instant Brief as good as a person?

The best way to test Instant Briefs is to try it for yourself. We occasionally run open brief periods when you can try LSD+ briefs without a subscription, and we always have a 14-day risk free trial so you can try with confidence!

We will be the first to admit that our case briefs aren't perfect, but we will also say they are pretty darn good. You will find mistakes in any brief service, and you will find mistakes in our briefs, too. In addition to making the briefs as clear and concise as possible, we have an easy to use thumbs up and thumbs down tool that allows for feedback so that we can fix mistakes as soon as they are pointed out. Our main goal is to give you accurate briefs quickly, and like everything on LSData we can always use your help!

What is the point of the Instant Brief tool?

We want to make law school a little easier. Specifically, we want to help you cut down on reading time to make class prep a breeze.

The amount of time required to prepare for law school each week can vary depending on a number of factors, such as the student's study habits, course load, and personal schedule. However, on average, law school students can expect to spend around 20 to 30 hours per week preparing for class and completing assignments.

This time is spent reading assigned cases and legal materials, preparing case briefs and outlines, participating in class discussions and exercises, studying for exams, and completing writing assignments and research projects.

In addition, to time spent in class many law school students also participate in extracurricular activities, such as law journals, moot court, and student organizations, which can require additional time and effort. Doesn't mean you have to do extracurriculars but most students do.

Related Articles

  1. Preparing for Class
  2. How to write a Case Brief
  3. Writing an Effective Case Brief for Students
Windsor MIT '22, Harvard College Advisor

I am the half of LSD that didn't take the LSAT, or go to law school (Sorry about that). But I did go to MIT business school while surrounded by law students and lawyers, so I am somewhat qualified to talk about the intricacies of law school apps and finances.

Windsor (the dog) didn't write this but he WAS a Resident Tutor and career advisor at Harvard College with me, so deserves some credit.

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KnowledgeableRitzyWasp
18:47
@TruthTheX: praying for your gulc uprising
19:15
Ty me too 🙏
19:15
@Silver: if you want to practice in IL then there’s likely no better school than the in state schools
@SpectacularDefiantMouse: yeah, like condemnedpuffygnome, I'm not really preparing for law school by taking some courses or anything like that. The only way I'm going to be preparing is by getting myself into a rhythm schedule-wise, well enough in advance of the first day of classes, that I think will be necessary for me to do well 1L.
I'm very much not in rhythm now. lol. But I've 3-ish months.
19:55
@Silver: Cost of attendance is what matters. $37K in-state tuition = $47K sticker price with a $10K scholarship elsewhere, $70K sticker with a $40K scholarship is better than either, $40K sticker with a $0 scholarship worse than both.
19:55
(Assuming placement etc. is comparable)
Congrats on Harvard, jb2028. Any reason you applied to A&M but not Texas at Austin? Seems odd.
19:58
@BankruptcyAndRestructuringLawIsCool: Family connection, they gave me a CAS waiver so it was free
Question for the chat about judicial internships (not externships). My understanding is that judicial internships (as opposed to externships) during the summer are unpaid. How, then, do people who get them pay living expenses during the summer? Do they just make loans stretch for 12 months when they're only meant for 9? I heard that some people supplement the internship with, e.g., a research assistant position with a law professor. But would such a person both do the internship and the RA position at the same time? And if so, is that too much work or feasible?
I don't know what the workload is really like for judicial internships and RA positions.
Also curious what other things people might do to supplement an unpaid judicial internship over the summer with something paid.
20:20
@BankruptcyAndRestructuringLawIsCool: Many schools will provide some type of stipend for unpaid summer roles with a public interest employer (defined broadly, often includes any gov or judicial job)
Right, I thought so. At BU, though, it appears that what's called BU's public interest project grant is not available to supplement judicial internships. And I think its public service summer funding is also limited. Oh well.
21:13
@BankruptcyAndRestructuringLawIsCool: FWIW they allude to some type of funding ("BU Law has implemented separate funding sources for judicial interns") in this packet https://www.bu.edu/law/files/2023/11/Public-Service-Summer-Funding-Applicant-Packet-2024.pdf
21:13
Although they don't give details, and as you note they don't guarantee funding to everyone (which is in line with other $ they offer, e.g. the LRAP)
21:14
Anyone know how hard it is to do pro bono work as a 1L for judges or fed gov in general in the D.C. market
21:14
Idk much about pro bono opportunities period but thinking I wanna try to get some work experience as soon as humanly possible
21:14
When I begin law school I mean
21:15
Lines up with BU's limited endowment: $81K per student a few years ago, i.e., enough to support a payout of about $3,250 per student per year at a 4% payout rate https://leiterlawschool.typepad.com/leiter/2022/05/per-student-value-of-law-school-endowments-2021.html
21:17
Seems like they're trying to compete with other schools on program headlines (we fund X, Y, and Z and we have an LRAP) but the endowment can't really support that, so they have all these programs but don't guarantee funding. Would not rely on that if you have alternatives.
Thanks for those links. I'll give the public service summer funding information packet, in particular, a careful read. But yeah, your takeaway seems right.
KnowledgeableRitzyWasp
22:33
i could really use some fried chicken right now
KnowledgeableRitzyWasp
22:34
kfc or popeyes
KnowledgeableRitzyWasp
22:34
or korean with gochujang
KnowledgeableRitzyWasp
22:35
i might order some gochujang sauce on amazon and cook some air fried chicken breast filets, they’re really good
KnowledgeableRitzyWasp
22:35
just letting you guys know :)
0:14
Where I can find the definition of the false-endowment?
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