[TOSCS]

I've to compile a case brief from a case report, and been given the headigns Parties, Facts, Procedural History, Law at Issue, Cause of Action, Summary of Judges Opinion and Analysis of Judicial Opinion.

Some of those are self explanatory, but I'm a bit confused by Law at Issue and Cause of Action, particular the latter. I've read that CoA is the law the plaintiff claims was broken, but then what's Law at Issue?

Procedural History would be the legal timeline leading up to the current case, such as previous appeals etc right?

Much appreciated!

[Forum User]

My guess would be that CoA is whatever gives rise to the action, so for example 'Tort - Negligence', whereas the 'Law at Issue' is whatever aspect of that cause of action is being decided in the case. So to give an example, suppose my guess is wrong, causing you to fail your exams and you want to sue me we might have:

TOSCS v Forum User
Cause of Action - "Tort - Negligent Misstatement"
Law at Issue - "Does a forum poster owe a duty of take reasonable care to give correct answers to law questions posed by other forum users?"

That's just a guess as have not really seen 'law at issue' used before although makes sense if that's what it is. Be careful with your terminology though, a cause of action is not necessarily a 'law that has been broken'. For example, no law would have been broken in the above hypothetical case even if I owe you a duty of care, and the same is true of, for example, breach of contract (at least in English law but I can't imagine Irish law differs greatly - assuming you are from Ireland as your location suggests).