How to Case Digest

In law subjects, digesting cases is a necessary exercise given to students to appreciate the topics and
know the doctrines which the Supreme Court applied to come up with a decision. A digest contains the
brief facts of the case, the issue to resolve and the decision/resolution of the court.

How to case digest:

1. Obtain a full copy of the case

In order to grasp the full background of a case, reading the dull copy is imperative. Cases are usually
uploaded in the supreme court website or in lawphil.net.

2. Note of the facts

The Facts are the brief background on the matter. The Facts will provide you a short but comprehensive
view of what has transpired in the case. No need to restate it, just gather the sufficient details to give a
short summary on the essential facts that transpired prior the decision of the Supreme Court.

3. Spot the issue

The issue is the central topic which the Court seeks to resolve. One case may contain numerous issues
but students must be know how to set each issues apart. Gather only the issue that best relate to the
topic. As a tip you should only focus on our subject, since we are studying partnership and corporation,
only the issues that would relate to the essential doctrines on partnership should be gathered. Learn to
know what to be included and what should be excluded.

4. Analyze how the Ruling of the Supreme Court

In its decisions, the Supreme Court has to answer the central issues raised by the parties, this will be
shown in the Ruling portion which is usually in the middle to the end portion of the decision. Take note
that what we are looking for is the decision of the SUPREME COURT and not the ruling of the lower
court.

In its Ruling, the Supreme Court would apply legal doctrines to answer the issues of the parties. Analyze
the ruling and understand how the Supreme Court resolved the case.

4. Write

Since a case digest is short of saying a brief summary of a case, it must be one or two pages short as
much as possible. Remember that you are not rewriting the full case, you are summarizing it.

5. Format
Start your digest with the Title of the case, citation and date. Example:

Divide your digest into the Facts, Issues and Ruling, example: