How to Easily Digest a Case

TIPS ON DIGESTING CASES: You can never escape digesting cases in the College of Law. The objective in digesting cases is to discover how the law was applied. Your professor is less interested in the brilliancy of the lawyer or the parties involved or how they won or lost their case. What matters is how the Supreme Court resolved the issues.

1. DO NOT DIGEST UNLESS YOU KNOW THE CODAL PROVISION. It's a total waste of time. On the contrary, if you know what the law requires, it is easy to determine if the parties obeyed or disobeyed the law. The Court always sides with the party who obeyed the law.

2. DO NOT DIGEST CASES SINGLY. Groups of cases must be digested together because they all apply the same law - sometimes in contrasting manner. Spend the most time thoroughly digesting the first in a batch of cases. Succeeding cases will simply re-apply the same principle. However, look out for reversals of rulings.