Chapter 4: Judgement and Analytical Ability

Question 1

Judgement

Answer 1

the process used to reach a decision or conclusion

Question 2

To exercise good judgement, one must:

Answer 2

• know the ultimate outcome that is sought
• have a thorough understanding of the framework within which to work (chain of command, deadlines, etc.)
• use available resources (rule of law, applicable documents, etc.)
• have a thorough understanding of the relevant facts
• exercise sound analytical techniques
• be sensitive to ethical obligations and to the public relations impact of any actions taken or omitted

Question 3

Analytical Ability

Answer 3

the process of sorting facts and related information into categories, separating that which is relevant from which it is not

Question 4

Comprehension of Data

Answer 4

paralegals are expected to recognize that point at which obscurity begins and to exercise caution to stay within the bounds of reasonable inference.

Question 5

Deductive Reasoning

Answer 5

analytical process that uses a major premise and a minor premise to deduce a logical conclusion (also known as a syllogism)

Question 6

stare decisis

Answer 6

the legal principle of determining points in litigation according to precedent. (analogical reasoning is the principal method of stare decisis, where facts are decided alike wand cases with different facts are decided differently [if the differences are important])

Question 7

Factual conflicts

Answer 7

the facts obtained from a single source are inconsistent with each other (internal conflict) or when they are inconsistent with other sources (external conflict)

Question 8

Segregation of relevant data

Answer 8

the ability to separate the relevant from the irrelevant

Question 9

Summarizing relevant data

Answer 9

a good rule of thumb: concentrate on subjects and verbs from an original witness statement, adding other information only if essential for clarify

Question 10

Tips for essay section

Answer 10

1. skim the question for general subject matter
2. determine specifically what the question wants
3. reread the question; note keywords or phrases
4. assume a hypothetical average lawyer is assigned to the case
5. use a definitive but conservative approach in answering the question (if more than one solution is possible, evaluate each of them)
6. prepare an outline of the proposed outline first
7. use the outline to prep your final answer