Research guide
How to brief a case: the IRAC method
IRAC stands for Issue, Rule, Application, Conclusion. It is the standard structure Australian law schools teach for case briefing. A well-written IRAC brief extracts the holding from a case and frames it so you can use it in an essay, a moot, or a client matter. This guide walks through each element with a worked example.
Last updated 12 April 2026. Written by the CaseSharp team in Sydney. This is research guidance, not legal advice.
Short answer
Issue: what legal question did the court decide? Rule: what is the controlling rule and its citation? Application: how did the rule apply to the facts, and what did each side argue? Conclusion: what did the court hold, and which authority carries the most weight? Write these four paragraphs and you have a case brief that survives a tutorial or a partner review.
The four elements
Issue
State the legal question the court was asked to decide. One sentence. Be specific enough that a reader who has never seen the case can tell what area of law it involves. Bad: 'This case is about negligence.' Good: 'Does a manufacturer owe a duty of care to the ultimate consumer of their product when there is no direct contract between them?'
Rule
Name the controlling rule of law that the court applied. Include the leading authority with its AGLC4 citation. If the court relied on a statutory provision, cite the section. If the court formulated a new test, state the test. Bad: 'The rule is about duty of care.' Good: 'A manufacturer owes a duty of care to the ultimate consumer when it is reasonably foreseeable that failure to take care will cause injury: Donoghue v Stevenson [1932] UKHL 100, [44] (Lord Atkin).'
Application
Show how the court applied the rule to the specific facts of this case. This is the longest section. Argue both sides where the rule permits. Identify the facts the court relied on to reach the conclusion, and the facts the losing side argued should have led to a different result. Show the reasoning, not just the outcome.
Conclusion
State the court's holding in one sentence. Name the authority that carries the most weight for future cases on the same point. If there was a dissent, note the dissent and the ground on which it disagreed. The conclusion is what you cite when you use this case in your own writing.
Worked example: Donoghue v Stevenson
Issue
Does a manufacturer of a product owe a duty of care to the ultimate consumer when there is no contract between them and the product causes injury?
Rule
A manufacturer owes a duty of care to the ultimate consumer of their product when it is reasonably foreseeable that failure to take care will cause injury, and there is no reasonable opportunity for the consumer to inspect the product before use: Donoghue v Stevenson [1932] UKHL 100, [44] (Lord Atkin).
Application
Mrs Donoghue consumed a bottle of ginger beer manufactured by Mr Stevenson. The bottle was opaque, so Mrs Donoghue could not inspect the contents before drinking. The bottle contained a decomposed snail. Mrs Donoghue suffered gastroenteritis. The manufacturer argued there was no privity of contract between the manufacturer and the consumer. The majority held that the absence of a contract did not defeat the duty: the manufacturer was in a position to foresee the harm, the consumer had no opportunity to discover the defect, and the manufacturer's omission (failure to inspect or clean the bottle) was the proximate cause of the injury.
Conclusion
A manufacturer owes a duty of care to the ultimate consumer of their product. The absence of a direct contract does not defeat the duty when the manufacturer is in a position to foresee the harm and the consumer has no opportunity to inspect. This is the foundation of the modern law of negligence, refined by Sullivan v Moody (2001) 207 CLR 562 and the Civil Liability Acts in each Australian state and territory.
Tips that improve your briefs
- Write the Issue before you read the full judgment. It forces you to identify the question at the start.
- Keep the Rule section to 2-3 sentences. If you need more, you are writing an essay, not a brief.
- In Application, name the facts that mattered. A brief that says “the court applied the rule” without naming the facts is useless.
- In Conclusion, cite the paragraph that holds the ratio. CaseSharp generates AGLC4 citations with pinpoint paragraphs for this.
- Check treatment before citing. An overruled case in your brief costs marks. Use the good-law check guide.
Frequently asked questions
- Is IRAC the only method?
- No. Variants include MIRAC (adds Material facts before Issue), CREAC (Conclusion first), and TRAC (Thesis, Rule, Application, Conclusion). IRAC is the most widely taught in Australian law schools and the safest default.
- How long should a case brief be?
- One page. A case brief is a working document, not an essay. If your brief exceeds one page, you are including too much Application detail. Trim the facts to the ones that actually changed the outcome.
- Can CaseSharp generate an IRAC brief for me?
- Yes. CaseSharp's Brief Builder gives you the IRAC structure with fields for each element. Attach saved authorities to anchor your argument. Sharp on the authority page generates a grounded explanation that serves as the starting point for your Rule and Application sections. The builder opens to cohort participants at launch.
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