Reference no: EM133194221

Task:
For this assignment, you will need to create 4 annotations. Create 3 annotations that provide facts (such as definitions, explanations, data, etc., directly from the reading) and 1 that adds an insight (connect to another idea in the course, current events, another student's comments, etc.) or asks a question.

Legal Analysis and Reasoning
Once you understand the facts, you can begin to analyze the case. The IRAC method is a helpful tool to use the analysis and reasoning process. IRAC is an acronym for Issue, Rule, Application, and Conclusion.

Issue: first, you decide what legal issue is involved in the case. Let's use a hypothetical slip and fall at a grocery store due to a wet floor to walk through these steps. For example, the issue is whether the grocery store failed to warn customers of the wet floor and, therefore, was negligent.

Rule: once you have identified the issue, the next step is to determine what rule of law applies to the issue. In the grocery store example, tort law says that business owners owe a duty to protect their customers by using reasonable care. Reasonable care in this context includes warning customers of foreseeable risks which the owner knew or should have known about. If a business owner breaches this duty of care and the breach of duty causes a customer to be injured, the business owner will be liable for the customer's injuries.

Application: the next step is the application of the relevant rule of law to the specific facts of the case. In the grocery store example, an employee just mopped the floor in the aisle where the customer slipped and fell and there wasn't a sign warning of a wet floor. That a customer might fall on a wet floor is clearly a foreseeable risk. Therefore, the failure to warn customers about the wet floor was a breach of the duty of care owed by the grocery store to its customers.

Conclusion: Once you have completed step 3 in the IRAC method, you should be ready to draw a conclusion. For example, the grocery store is liable to customer for his injuries because the store's breach of its duty of care caused the customer's injuries.

Often, the fact patterns aren't as simple as the grocery store example. There may be more than one issue in a case and one or more applicable rule of law. There may also be a defense - possibly, the employee verbally told the customer to avoid the area. Give this method a try as you read through the cases. Hopefully, it will help you in this course and other courses!