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Case
A general term for any action, CauseofAction, lawsuit, or controversy. All theevidence and t
estimony compiled and organized by one party in a lawsuit to provethat party's version of
the controversy at a trial in court.
Cause of Action
997 RULES OF CIVIL PROCEDURE, AS AMENDED
(RULES 1-71, RULES OF COURT)
EFFECTIVE JULY 1, 1997
Per Resolution of the Supreme Court in Bar Matter No. 803 Adopted in Baguio City on
April 8, 1997
RULES OF COURT
Pursuant to the provisions of section 5 (5) of Article VIII of the Constitution, the Supreme
Court hereby adopts and promulgates the following rules concerning the protection and
enforcement of constitutional rights, pleading, practice and procedure in all courts, the
admission to the practice of law, the Integrated Bar, and legal assistance to the
underprivileged:
RULE 1
General Provisions
Section 1. Title of the Rules. These Rule shall be known and cited as the Rules of Court.
(1)
Section 2. In what courts applicable. These Rules shall apply in all the courts, except as
otherwise provided by the Supreme Court. (n)
Section 3. Cases governed. These Rules shall govern the procedure to be observed in
actions, civil or criminal and special proceedings.
(a) A civil action is one by which a party sues another for the enforcement or
protection of a right, or the prevention or redress of a wrong, (1a, R2)
A civil action may either be ordinary or special. Both are governed by the rules for
ordinary civil actions, subject to the specific rules prescribed for a special civil action.
(n)
(b) A criminal action is one by which the State prosecutes a person for an act or
omission punishable by law. (n)
(c) A special proceeding is a remedy by which a party seeks to establish a status, a
right, or a particular fact. (2a, R2)

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Section 4. In what case not applicable. These Rules shall not apply to election cases,
land registration, cadastral, naturalization and insolvency proceedings, and other cases not
herein provided for, except by analogy or in a suppletory character and whenever practicable
and convenient. (R143a)
Section 5. Commencement of action. A civil action is commenced by the filing of the
original complaint in court. If an additional defendant is impleaded in a later pleading, the
action is commenced with regard to him on the dated of the filing of such later pleading,
irrespective of whether the motion for its admission, if necessary, is denied by the court. (6a)
Section 6. Construction. These Rules shall be liberally construed in order to promote
their objective of securing a just, speedy and inexpensive disposition of every action and
proceeding. (2a)
Civil Actions
Ordinary Civil Actions

RULE 2
Cause of Action
Section 1. Ordinary civil actions, basis of. Every ordinary civil action must be based on a
cause of action. (n)
Section 2. Cause of action, defined. A cause of action is the act or omission by which a
party violates a right of another. (n)
Section 3. One suit for a single cause of action. A party may not institute more than one
suit for a single cause of action. (3a)
Section 4. Splitting a single cause of action; effect of. If two or more suits are instituted
on the basis of the same cause of action, the filing of one or a judgment upon the merits in
any one is available as a ground for the dismissal of the others. (4a)
Section 5. Joinder of causes of action. A party may in one pleading assert, in the
alternative or otherwise, as many causes of action as he may have against an opposing party,
subject to the following conditions:
(a) The party joining the causes of action shall comply with the rules on joinder of
parties;
(b) The joinder shall not include special civil actions or actions governed by special
rules;
(c) Where the causes of action are between the same parties but pertain to different
venues or jurisdictions, the joinder may be allowed in the Regional Trial Court
provided one of the causes of action falls within the jurisdiction of said court and the
venue lies therein; and

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(d) Where the claims in all the causes action are principally for recovery of money,
the aggregate amount claimed shall be the test of jurisdiction. (5a)
Section 6. Misjoinder of causes of action. Misjoinder of causes of action is not a ground
for dismissal of an action. A misjoined cause of action may, on motion of a party or on the
initiative of the court, be severed and proceeded with separately. (n)
***
The fact or combination of facts that gives a person the right to seek judicial redress or relie
fagainst another. Also, the legal theory forming the basis of a lawsuit.
A set of predefined factual elements that allow for a legal remedy. The factual elements
needed for a specific cause of action can come from a constitution, statute, judicial
precedent, or administrative regulation.
The cause of action is the heart of the complaint, which is the Pleading that initiates a lawsuit
.Without an adequately stated cause of action the plaintiff's case can be dismissed at the
outset.It is not sufficient merely to state that certain events occurred that entitle the plaintiff
to relief. Allthe elements of each cause of action must be detailed in the complaint. The
claims must besupported by the facts, the law, and a conclusion that flows from the applicati
on of the law to those facts.
The cause of action is often stated in the form of a syllogism, a form of deductive reasoning
thatbegins with a major premise (the applicable RuleofLaw), proceeds to a minor premise
(the factsthat gave rise to the claim), and ends with a conclusion. In a cause of action for
Battery, the ruleof law is that any intentional, unpermitted act that causes a harmful or offen
sive touching ofanother is a battery. This is the major premise and is stated first. Supporting
facts, constitutingthe minor premise, appear after the rule of law. For example, a statement
of facts for a case ofbattery might be "The plaintiff, while walking through ABC Store on the
afternoon of March 11,1998, was tackled by the defendant, a security guard for the store, who
knocked the plaintiff tothe floor and held her there by kneeling on her back and holding her
arms behind her, whilescreaming in her ear to open her shopping bag. These actions caused
the plaintiff to sufferinjuries to her head, chest, shoulders, neck, and back." The cause of
action concludes with astatement that the defendant is responsible for the plaintiff's injuries
and that the plaintiff isentitled to compensation from the defendant.
The facts or circumstances that entitle a person to seek judicial relief may create more than
onecause of action. For example, in the preceding example, the plaintiff might assert claims
forassault, battery, intentional infliction of emotional distress, and violation of CivilRights.
Shemight also bring claims for negligent hiring (if the guard had a history of violent behavio
r whichthe store failed to discover) or negligent supervision. (When damages are caused by a
nemployee it is common to sue both the employee and the employer.) All these causes of
actionarise from the same set of facts and circumstances but are supported by different rules
of lawand constitute separate claims for relief.
A cause of action can arise from an act, a failure to perform a legal obligation, a breach of
duty,or a violation or invasion of a right. The importance of the act, failure, breach, or
violation lies inits legal effect or characterization and in how the facts and circumstances,
considered as awhole, relate to applicable law. A set of facts may have no legal effect in one
situation, whereasthe same or similar facts may have significant legal implications in
another situation. Forexample, tackling a shoplifting suspect who is brandishing a gun is a
legitimate action by asecurity guard and probably would not support a claim for relief if the
suspect were injured in thefracas. On the other hand, tackling a shopper who merely acts in

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a suspicious manner whilecarrying a shopping bag is a questionable exercise of a guard's
duty and may well give rise toJusticiable causes of action.
Elements of Cause of Action
ELEMENTS OF CAUSE OF ACTION
A cause of action is the act or omission by which a party violates a right of another. A cause
of action exists if the following elements are present:
(1) a right in favor of the plaintiff by whatever means and under whatever law it arises or is
created;
(2) an obligation on the part of the named defendant to respect or not to violate such right;
and
(3) an act or omission on the part of such defendant violative of the right of plaintiff or
constituting a breach of the obligation of defendant to plaintiff for which the latter may
maintain an action for recovery of damages.
The fundamental test for failure to state a cause of action is whether, admitting the veracity
of what appears on the face and within the four corners of the complaint, plaintiff is entitled
to the relief prayed for. Stated otherwise, may the court render a valid judgment upon the
facts alleged therein? Indeed, the inquiry is into the sufficiency, not the veracity of the
material allegations. If the allegations in the complaint furnish sufficient basis on which it
can be maintained, it should not be dismissed regardless of the defenses that may be
presented by defendants. (AC Enterprise vs. Frabelle Properties Corp. G.R. No. 166744.
November 2, 2006, Callejo, J).
A cause of action is the act or omission by which a party violates a right of another. [16] A
complaint states a cause of action when it contains the three (3) elements of a cause of
action(1) the legal right of the plaintiff; (2) the correlative obligation of the defendant; and
(3) the act or omission of the defendant in violation of the legal right. If any of these
elements is absent, the complaint becomes vulnerable to a motion to dismiss on the ground
of failure to state a cause of action.[17]
1) a violation of a legal right, 2) damage or injury, 3) redress-ability by the court.
1.

2.
3.
4.

Duty of care
a. A duty of care is an obligation recognized by the law.
b. Such a duty requires the actor to conform to a certain standard of conduct.
c. The purpose of such conduct is to protect others against unreasonable risks.
Breach of duty A failure to conform to the required standard
Causation
a. Causation-in-fact
b. Proximate causation
Actual damage
a. Negligence grew out of action on the case, which required proof of actual
damages.
b. Recovery of nominal damages is not allowed.
c. Its uncertain just what constitutes damage.

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These elements are not discrete, but rather, they are all related. Another definition of
negligence is conduct that falls below the standard of care established by law for the
protection of others against the unreasonable risk of harm.
Case Digest

Caption This is just the title of the case. It can be as plain as People vs Juan de la
Cruz or detailed to include the SCRA number, GR number, ponente and the date.

Facts This portion is supposed to answer the Who, What, When, How, Why stuff of
the case.

Issues This is the legal conflict or the legal controversy sought to be resolved by the
Supreme Court.

Ruling This is the decision or jurisprudence laid down by the court.

Concurring/Dissenting Opinions These are not always present in all cases and
normally they do not place any significance to the current ruling being discussed (but
they may serve a significant role in future Supreme Court decisions especially when
doctrines are reversed or totally abandoned). These opinions may also be an additional
explanation as to how certain justices voted, the wisdom behind their votes, and as to
how the decision is reached. Be very wary because some professors would also ask
questions pertaining to these opinions especially when such opinions are adopted as
the general rule in some future cases.

1. Facts: Pinpoint the determinative facts of a case,i.e., those that make a difference in the
outcome. Your goal here is to be able to tell the story of the case without missing any
pertinent information but also not including too many extraneous facts either; it takes
some practice to pick out the determinative facts, so dont get discouraged if you miss
the mark the first few times. Above all, make sure you have clearly marked the parties
names and positions in the case (Plaintiff/Defendant or Appellee/Appellant).
2. Procedural History: Record what has happened procedurally in the case up until this
point. The dates of case filings, motions of summary judgment, court rulings, trials, and
verdicts or judgments should be noted, but usually this isnt an extremely important
part of a case brief unless the court decision is heavily based in procedural rulesor
unless you note that your professor loves to focus on procedural history.
3. Issue Presented: Formulate the main issue or issues in the case in the form of
questions, preferably with a yes or no answer, which will help you more clearly state the
holding in the next section of the case brief.
4. Holding: The holding should directly respond to the question in the Issue Presented,
begin with yes or no, and elaborate with because from there. If the opinion says
We hold thats the holding; some holdings arent so easy to pinpoint, though, so look
for the lines in the opinion that answer your Issue Presented question.

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5. Rule of Law: In some cases this will be clearer than others, but basically you want to
identify the principle of law on which the judge or justice is basing the resolution of the
case. This is what youll often hear called black letter law.
6. Reasoning: This is the most important part of your brief as it describes why the court
ruled the way it did; some law professors dwell on facts more than others, some more on
procedural history, but all spend the most time on the courts reasoning as it combines
all parts of the case rolled in one, describing the application of the rule of law to the facts
of the case, often citing other courts opinions and reasoning or public policy
considerations in order to answer the issue presented. This part of your brief traces the
courts reasoning step by step, so be sure that you record it without gaps in logic as well.
7. Concurring/Dissenting Opinion: You dont need to spend too much time on this
part other than the pinpoint the concurring or dissenting judges main point of
contention with the majority opinion and rationale. Concurring and dissenting opinions
hold lots of law professor Socratic Method fodder, and you can be ready by including
this part in your case brief.