irac organization - florida coastal school of law - ira… ·  · 2016-08-19irac organization...

IRACORGANIZATION

EXAMPLES

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IRAC

•  IRAC(Issue,Rule,Analysis,andConclusion)formsthefundamentalbuildingblocksoflegalanalysis.Itistheprocessbywhichalllawyersthinkaboutanylegalproblem.ThebeautyofIRACisthatitallowsyoutoreducethecomplexiLesofthelawtoasimpleequaLon.

•  ISSUE‐>WhatfactsandcircumstancesbroughttheseparLestocourt?

•  RULE‐>Whatisthegoverninglawfortheissue?•  ANALYSIS‐>Doestheruleapplytotheseuniquefacts?•  CONCLUSION‐>Howdoesthecourt'sholdingmodifythe

ruleoflaw?

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ISSUESPOTTING:STEPONE•  "ThefactsofacasesuggestanIssue."•  ThekeytoissuespoXngisbeingabletoidenLfywhichfactsraise

whichissues.Becauseofthecomplexityofthelaw,theeliminaLonoraddiLonofonefact(suchasLmeofdayorwhethersomeonewasdrinking)caneliminateoraddissuestoacasetherebyraisinganenLrelydifferentruleoflaw.

•  Inlawschoolcasebooks,theeasiestwaytoisolatetheissueistomerelylookatthechapterheadingsofthecases,suchas"PersonalJurisdicLon"inCivilProcedureor"OfferandAcceptance"inContracts.Thecasesyoureadwillalsocontainlanguagethatsignalstheimportantissue.Forinstance,thejudgewillsimplystate:

•  "Thecaseturnsupontheques?onwhether...."OR"Wecomethentothebasicissueinthecase."

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ISSUESPOTTINGCON’T

•  Ques)onstoaskwhenreadingacase:•  WhatfactsandcircumstancesbroughttheseparLestocourt?

•  Aretherebuzzwordsinthefactsthatsuggestanissue?

•  Isthecourtdecidingaques?onoffact‐i.e.theparLesareindisputeoverwhathappened‐orisitaques?onoflaw‐i.e.thecourtisunsurewhichruletoapplytothesefacts?

•  Whatarethenon‐issues?

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RULE

•  Rule‐WhatistheLaw?•  "TheissueiscoveredbyaRuleoflaw."•  Simplyput,theruleisthelaw.Therulecouldbecommonlawthatwasdevelopedbythecourtsoralawthatwaspassedbythelegislature.

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RULECON’T

•  Ques)onstoaskwhenreadingacase:•  Whataretheelementsthatprovetherule?

•  Whataretheexcep?onstotherule?

•  Fromwhatauthoritydoesitcome?Commonlaw,statute,newrule?

•  What'stheunderlyingpublicpolicybehindtherule?

•  Aretheresocialconsidera?ons?6

ANALYSIS‐THEARTOFLAWYERING

•  "ComparethefactstotheruletoformtheAnalysis."•  ThisimportantareaisreallyrelaLvelysimple.Foreveryrelevantfact,youneedtoaskwhetherthefacthelpstoproveordisprovetherule.Ifarulerequiresthatacertaincircumstanceispresentinorderfortheruletoapply,thentheabsenceofthatcircumstancehelpsyoureachtheconclusionthattheruledoesnotapply.Forinstance,allcontractsforthesaleofgoodsover$500havetobeinwriLng.Consequently,inanalyzingacontractforthesaleofgoods,youapplythepresenceorabsenceoftwofacts‐worthofgoodandwhetherthere'sawriiencontract‐inordertoseewhethertheruleholdstrue.

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AnalysisCon’t

•  Ques)onstoaskwhenreadingacase:•  Whichfactshelpprovewhichelementsoftherule?

•  Whyarecertainfactsrelevant?•  HowdothesefactssaLsfythisrule?•  Whattypesoffactsareappliedtotherule?•  Howdothesefactsfurtherthepublicpolicyunderlyingthisrule?

•  What'sthecounter‐argumentforanothersoluLon?

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CONCLUSION–TAKINGAPOSITION

•  "FromtheanalysisyoucometoaConclusionastowhethertheruleappliestothefacts."

•  TheconclusionistheshortestpartoftheequaLon.Itcanbeasimple"yes"or"no"astowhethertheruleappliestoasetoffacts.Aprofessorwillonengiveyouasetoffactsthatcouldgoeitherwayinordertoseehowwellyouanalyzeadifficultissue.ThemistakemanystudentsmakeistonevertakeaposiLononewayortheotheronanissue.MostprofessorswantyoutotakeaposiLonandsupportitinordertoseehowwellyouanalyze.

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CONCLUSION–TAKINGAPOSITION

•  Ques)onstoaskwhenreadingacase:•  What'stheholdingofthecase?•  Hastheholdingmodifiedtheexis?ngruleoflaw?•  Whatistheproceduraleffectoftheholding?Isthecaseoverturned,upheldorremandedforretrial?

•  Doestheholdingfurthertheunderlyingpolicyoftherule?

•  Doyouagreewiththeoutcomeofthecase?

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IRACTRIAD

•  IRACisagoodmodel.However,inthepressureoftheexam,manystudentsleaveoutthemostimportantpartoftheequaLon‐theanalysis.Inordertoillustratetheimportantoftheanalysis,I'vemodifiedthetradiLonalmodelintowhatIcalltheIRACTriad.

• 

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IRACTRIADCON’T

•  TheIRACTriademphasizestheAnalysisbyusingtheFacts,IssueandRuleasbuildingblocks.TheAnalysisistheendproductandprimarygoaloftheIRACTriad,buttherolethatfactsplayinformingtheanalysisishighlighted.

•  Step1:ThefactsofacasesuggestanIssue.•  Thelegalissuewouldnotexistunlesssomeeventoccurred.•  Step2:TheissueisgovernedbyaRuleoflaw.•  Theissuemechanicallydetermineswhatruleisapplied.•  Step3:ComparethefactstotheruletoformtheAnalysis.•  DothefactssaLsfytherequirementsoftherule?•  TheTriadisactuallyjustasimpleflowchartinwhichthe

factscanbepigeonholedintoaConclusion.

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ContractsHypotheLcal:FACTS

•  Facts:•  Anoldmanwhoisveryillandneardeathmakesanoralcontractwithhisnephew.Thetermsofthecontractarethattheunclewillimmediatelygivehisnephewallofhislifesavings‐$100,000‐inreturnforthenephew'spromisetoprovidefoodandshelterfortheoldmanunLlthemandies.Thenephewtakesthemoneyandsupportstheoldmanatacostof$10,000ayear.TheoldmanliveslongerthanexpectedandissLllaliveanerfineenyears,atwhichpointthenephewcutstheoldmanoffwithoutfurthersupport.

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ISSUE?

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Issue

Is an oral contract valid after fifteen years? Note that the issue is stated in the form of a question and uses key facts to illustrate the problem. Don't be alarmed if you didn't see the issue right away. By reading case law in contracts, you will learn that these sorts of factual situations give rise to issues surrounding whether a contract is valid.

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RULE?

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Rule

A contract must be in writing if it is not possible to perform the contract within one year. - Statute of Frauds The issue immediately triggers the appropriate rule. Again, the appropriate rules are something that you will learn in your first year of contract law.

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ANALYSIS?

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Analysis

The Statute of Frauds does not state that the contract must be performed within one year. It only states that it must be possible to complete the contract within a year. Since a very ill, old man could have died within one year, it is possible that the contract could have been completed. This analysis shows how closely you must pay attention to the wording of a rule. The words "not possible" indicate that a remote possibility of being able to complete the contract means the rule does not apply. 19

CONCLUSION?

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Conclusion

•  TheStatuteofFraudsprobablydoesnotapplyinthesecircumstances,andtheoralcontractisnotinvalideventhoughitwasnotcompletedwithinoneyear.

•  Conclusionsshouldbeshortandputintermsofaprobability.

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CivilProcedureHypothe)calFacts:

•  1.PatriciasuesDanielinfederaldistrictcourtovermoneythatshesaysheowesher.

•  2.Shewinshercase.•  3.Danielappealsthedecisioninthefederalappellatecourt,whichoverturnsthelowercourt'sdecisiononatechnicalerror.

•  4.PatriciaappealstotheU.S.SupremeCourt,andthecourtrefusestohearthecase.

•  5.PatriciaaiemptstosueDanielasecondLmeinthestatecourtsystemoverthesameissueofthemoneyshesaysheowesher.

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ISSUE?

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Issue

•  DoesthefactthatPatriciatookhercasetothehighestfederalcourtandlostpreventherfromstarLngthesamecaseinastatecourt?

•  CivilProcedureques?onsquitenaturallyfocusonwhetheraplain?ffordefendanthascorrectlyfollowedtherulesinbringingacasetocourt.CivilProceduregenerallydoesnotfocusonthesubstanceofthedispute‐i.e.whethertheplain?ffordefendantwins.

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RULE?

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Rule

•  TheprincipleofresjudicatastatesthatonceafinaljudgmentonthemeritshasbeenmadeonaparLcularcase,theplainLffisbarredfrombringingthatsamecaseagainstthesamedefendantinthesameordifferentcourt.

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ANALYSIS?

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Analysis

•  SincePatriciaappealedthecasetothehighestcourt,afinaljudgmentisconsideredtohavebeenmadeonthemaier.ShehasexhaustedallofthepotenLalappealsbygoingtothehighestcourtwhichhasruledonhercase.IfsheaiemptstobringthesamecauseofacLon(i.e.thesameparLcularfactsandcontroversy)instatecourt,thenDanielcanarguetohavethecasethrownoutofcourtusingtheprincipleofresjudicata.

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CONCLUSION?

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Conclusion

•  Patriciacannotbringthecaseinstatecourt.

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