Ch. 1 Intro to Law and Legal Reasoning Flashcards
What is a breach?
breaks, or fails to perform in the contract
What is ethics?
the study of what constitutes right or wrong behavior
What are secondary sources of law?
books and articles that summarize and clarify the primary sources of law
What is Constitutional Law?
law as expressed in the constitution
What is statutory law?
laws enacted by legislative bodies at any level of government
What are ordinances?
statutes (laws, rules, or orders) passed by municipal or county governing units to govern matters not covered by federal or state law
What are uniform laws?
model laws for the states to consider adopting
What does administrative law consist of?
rules, orders, and decisions of administrative agencies
What is an administrative agency?
federal, state, or local government agency established to perform a specific function
What is an executive agency?
agencies at the national level under the executive branch that is subject to the authority of the president who has the power to appoint and remove their officers
What is an independent regulatory agency?
agencies at the federal level where the presidents power is less pronounced. the officers serve fixed terms and cannot be removed without just cause.
What is case law?
the rules of law announced in court decisions
What is common law?
a body of general rules that applied throughout the English realm.
What is a remedy?
the legal means to enforce a right or redress a wrong
What are damages?
an amount given to a party whose legal interests have been injured
What are equitable maxims?
propositions or general statements of equitable rules
What is a defense?
an argument raised by the defendant (party being sued) indicating why the plaintiff (suing party) should not obtain the remedy sought
What is judge-made law?
when judges decide legal controversies
What is a precedent?
a decision that furnished an example or authority for deciding subsequent cases involving identical or similar legal principles
What is a reporter?
volumes where cases are reported
What is stare decisis?
the practice of deciding new cases with reference to former decisions. it means “to stand on decided cases”
What is a binding authority?
any source of law that a court must follow when deciding a case
What is public policy?
governmental policy based on widely held societal values
What is legal reasoning?
the reasoning process used by judges in deciding what law applies to a given dispute and then applying the law to the specific facts or circumstances of the case
What is an allege?
a claim that the defendant committed at tort
What are cases on point?
previously decided cases that are similar to the one under consideration
What is linear reasoning?
reasoning that proceeds from one point to another with the final point being the conclusion
What is reasoning by analogy?
to compare facts at hand to those in another case and to present the same rule of law to the present case.
What is jurisprudence?
learning about different schools of jurisprudential though and discovering how the approaches to law characteristic of each school can affect decision making
What is legal positivism?
believing that there can be no higher law than a nations positive law
What is legal realism?
law is just ones of many institutions in society and that it is shaped by social forces and needs
What is substantive law?
consists of all laws that define, describe, regulate, and create legal rights and obligations
What is procedural law?
consists of all laws that delineate the methods of enforcing the rights established by substantive law
What is civil law?
spells out the rights and duties that exist between persons and betweens persons and their government as well as the relief available when a persons rights are violated
What is criminal law?
it is law concerned with the wrongs committed against the public as a whole
What is cyberlaw?
the emerging body of law that governs transactions conducted via the internet
