How to Read a Legal Opinion
"How to Read a Legal Opinion" was written for new law students, but is a great tool for anyone who is new to reading court opinions because it guides you through all the important pieces, from caption to disposition. The author, Orin Kerr, is a law professor at the George Washington University Law School.
The article was published in The Green Bag, "an entertaining journal of law." Archived articles are available online, dating back to Winter 2008. Besides publishing articles that are much less serious than the average legal journal, the Green Bag is known for giving away bobbleheads of U.S. Supreme Court Justices to some of its subscribers. The most recent bobblehead created by the Green Bag was Justice Souter.
