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Securities Regulation Keyed to Coffee
Securities and Exchange Commission v. Charles E. Edwards
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*Case Brief Anatomy includes: Brief Prologue, Complete Case Brief, Brief Epilogue
- The Brief Prologue provides necessary case brief introductory information and includes:
- Topic: Identifies the topic of law and where this case fits within your course outline.
- Parties: Identifies the cast of characters involved in the case.
- Procedural Posture & History: Shares the case history with how lower courts have ruled on the matter.
- Case Key Terms, Acts, Doctrines, etc.: A case specific Legal Term Dictionary.
- Case Doctrines, Acts, Statutes, Amendments and Treatises: Identifies and Defines Legal Authority used in this case.
- The Case Brief is the complete case summarized and authored in the traditional Law School I.R.A.C. format. The Pro case brief includes:
- Brief Facts: A Synopsis of the Facts of the case.
- Rule of Law: Identifies the Legal Principle the Court used in deciding the case.
- Facts: What are the factual circumstances that gave rise to the civil or criminal case? What is the relationship of the Parties that are involved in the case. Review the Facts of this case here:
Charles E. Edwards was chairman, CEO and lone shareholder of the ETS Payphones, Inc., a company that sold payphones through independent merchants to the public. ETS offered a contract where ETS leased back the payphone from the client for a fixed monthly sum, giving the clients a fixed annual return on the investment. ETS failed to make the payments necessitated by the leaseback contract due to the payphones not generating enough revenue, forcing the company to be reliant on new investors to fulfill its obligations. Following ETS’ filing for bankruptcy, the SEC brought a civil enforcement action, against Edwards and ETS, alleging the aforementioned had violated registration requirements and antifraud provisions of the Securities Act of 1933 and the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. The district court ruled that the sale-and-leaseback agreement was an “investment contract”, and therefore must comply with federal securities laws. The court of appeals reversed, with the Supreme Court granting review.
- Issue(s): Lists the Questions of Law that are raised by the Facts of the case.
- Holding: Shares the Court's answer to the legal questions raised in the issue.
- Concurring / Dissenting Opinions: Includes valuable concurring or dissenting opinions and their key points.
- Reasoning and Analysis: Identifies the chain of argument(s) which led the judges to rule as they did.
- The Brief Prologue closes the case brief with important forward-looking discussion and includes:
- Policy: Identifies the Policy if any that has been established by the case.
- Court Direction: Shares where the Court went from here for this case.