Case Library · Method
IRAC and CREAC
IRAC and CREAC are two orders for the same analysis. IRAC (issue, rule, application, conclusion) starts with the question and suits exam answers. CREAC (conclusion, rule, explanation, application, conclusion) starts with the answer and suits memos and briefs, where the reader wants the conclusion first and the authority behind it.
IRAC
Issue
The question the facts raise, stated narrowly enough that it could only come from these facts.
Rule
The legal standard that answers the question: a statute, a test from a case, or the elements of a claim.
Application
The rule applied to the facts, element by element, with the strongest argument on each side.
Conclusion
The answer to the issue, as firm as the analysis allows.
On an exam, IRAC shows the grader that you spotted the issue and know the rule; most of the points are in the application. Write one IRAC for each issue, and give the losing side’s best argument inside the application before you conclude.
CREAC
Conclusion
Your answer, first, so a busy reader knows where the analysis is going.
Rule
The governing rule, with its source and a pinpoint to the page that states it.
Explanation
How courts have applied the rule: the facts and results of the cases that show what the rule means in practice.
Application
Your facts measured against those cases: alike where it helps, different where it does not, and why.
Conclusion
The answer again, now earned by the analysis.
The explanation is what separates CREAC from IRAC. Before applying the rule, you show the reader how courts have used it, so the comparison in the application has something to stand on.
Side by side
| Feature | IRAC | CREAC |
|---|---|---|
| Opens with | The issue | The conclusion |
| Where cases go | Mostly in the rule | In the rule and, above all, the explanation |
| Usual home | Exam answers and class discussion | Office memos, briefs and motions |
| Citations | Exams often need none | Every rule and every case illustration, with pinpoints |
Where the citations go
- Rule
- A full citation with a pinpoint to the page that states the rule. If you built the rule from several cases, cite each one.
- Explanation
- Each case illustration gets its own citation and pinpoint. An explanatory parenthetical can carry a case’s facts and result in one line when it does not need a full paragraph.
- Application
- Cases you have already cited in full come back in short form, or as Id. when the citation just before is to the same case.
- Conclusion
- Usually no citation: the authority is already on the page.
In the book: 14.9 Opinion-type and explanatory parentheticals; 8.3 Full citations and short forms in a memo; 5.3 Id.: the authority you just cited
Variants you may meet
Legal writing programs name these structures differently. The differences are smaller than the names suggest.
- CRAC. Conclusion, rule, application, conclusion: CREAC without a separate explanation step.
- CREACC. Adds a counter-analysis before the final conclusion, so the strongest opposing argument is met head on.
- IREAC. Opens with the issue, then follows the CREAC order: rule, explanation, application, conclusion.
- TREAT. Thesis, rule, explanation, application, thesis restated: the same shape as CREAC under other names.
- CRuPAC. Conclusion, rule, rule proof, application, conclusion: the proof step does the work of the explanation.
If your professor teaches one of these, use it: the citations go in the same places.