Chapter 7 Legal Analysis

Question 1

the application of one or more rules of law to the facts of a clients case in order to answer a legal question that will help
1. keep a legal dispute from arising
2. resolve a legal dispute that has arisen
3. prevent a legal issue from becoming worse.
Also called legal reasoning.

Answer 1

Legal Analysis

Question 2

connecting facts to a rule in order to determine whether the rule applies to the facts

Answer 2

application

Question 3

a nonlaw that a court could rely on in reaching a decision. Authority that describes or explains but does not constitute the law.

Answer 3

Secondary Authority.

Question 4

An acronym that stands for the components of legal analysis.

Answer 4

IRAC

Question 5

A written explanation of how the law might apply to the fact situation of a client.

Answer 5

memorandum of law

Question 6

a portion of a rule that is a precondition of the applicability of the entire rule.

Answer 6

element

Question 7

the portion of a rule about which the parties cannot agree. The disagreement may be over the definition of the element, whether the facts fit within the element or both.

Answer 7

element in contention

Question 8

a question of law. A question of what the law is, or what the law means, or how the law applies to the facts. Also called legal question or question of law. If the dispute is over the truth or falsity of the alleged facts, it is referred to as a question of fact or a factual issue.

Answer 8

Legal issue

Question 9

one of the circumstances or considerations that will be weighed in making a decision, no one of which is conclusive.

Answer 9

factor

Question 10

A summary of the main or essential parts of a court opinion. Sometimes referred to as a trial brief or an appellate brief).

Answer 10

Brief

Question 11

the party against whom an appeal is brought. Also called the appellee

Answer 11

respondent

Question 12

1. An attorneys personal notes on how to conduct a trial. Also called trial manual and trial book.
2. An attorneys presentation to a trial court of legal issues and positions of his or her client.

Answer 12

Trial brief

Question 13

a document submitted (filed) by a party to an appellate court (or served on opposing party) in which arguments are presented on why the appellate court should affirm (approve) reverse, or otherwise modify what a lower court has done.

Answer 13

appellate brief

Question 14

a book, cd rom or online service containing lists of citations that can (1) help you access the current validity of an opinion, statute or other item; and (2) gives you leads to other relevant materials.

Answer 14

citator

Question 15

pertaining to a lower court in the judicial system (also directs a reader to text printed later in the document).

Answer 15

Below

Question 16

printed in a reporter

Answer 16

reported

Question 17

a courts list of its pending cases.

Answer 17

docket

Question 18

a reporter published by a commercial publishing company without special authority from the government.

Answer 18

unofficial reporter

Question 19

a reference to any legal authority printed on paper or stored on a computer database that will allow you to locate the authority. As a verb, to give its location where you can read it. It is the paper or online address where you can read something.

Answer 19

citation

Question 20

the party bringing an appeal because of alleged errors made by a lower tribunal, sometimes called petitioner.

Answer 20

appellant

Question 21

a brief summary or outline. Also called case synopsis. Printed before the opinion begins. It is usually a summary of the entire opinion

Answer 21

syllabus

Question 22

a short paragraph summary of a portion of a court opinion (usually covering a single legal ussie) printed before the opinion begins.

Answer 22

headnote

Question 23

a general topic (e.g. Searches and seizures) and a number for one of its subtopics. Used by West group to organize millions of cases by topics in its digests.

Answer 23

key number

Question 24

An organized summary or abridgement. A set of volumes that contain brief summaries (sometimes called abstracts or squibs) of court opinions, arranged by topic and by court or jurisdiction.

Answer 24

digest

Question 25

(an opinion “by the court” as a whole”) A court opinion, usually a short one, that does not name the judge who wrote it.

Answer 25

per curriam opinion

Question 26

the decision of a court with few, or no supporting reasons, often because it follows established principles.

Answer 26

memorandum opinion

Question 27

a critical fact; a fact that is essential or very important to the conclusion or holding of a court.

Answer 27

key fact

Question 28

a prior decision or opinion, covering a similar issue that can be used as a standard or guide in a later case.

Answer 28

precedent

Question 29

an explanation of why the court resolved a legal issue the way it did-why it reached the particuylar holding for that issue.

Answer 29

reasoning

Question 30

a courts answer to one of the legal issues in the case.

Answer 30

holding

Question 31

the final order of a court reached as a result of its holdings.

Answer 31

disposition

Question 32

to cancel or set aside

Answer 32

vacate

Question 33

to send back a case to a lower tribunal with instructions from a higher tribunal on how to proceed

Answer 33

remand

Question 34

A statement made by a court that was not necessary to resolve the legal issues growing out of the specific facts before the court. A courts comments in the law that applies (or that might apply) to facts that are not before the court.

Answer 34

Dictum

Question 35

the opinion whose result and reasoning are supported by at least half plus one of the judges on the court.

Answer 35

majority opinion

Question 36

the opinion written by less than a majority of the judges on the court that agrees with result reached by the majority but not with all of its reasonings.

Answer 36

concurring opinion

Question 37

the controlling opinion that is joined by the largest number of judges on the bench short of a majority.

Answer 37

plurality opinion

Question 38

an opinion of one or more judges that disagrees with the result and the reasoning of the majority or plurality opinion.

Answer 38

dissenting opinion

Question 39

(“a thing adjudicated”) a final judgement on the merits will preclude the same parties from later relitigating the same claim and any other claim based on the same facts, or transaction that could have been raised in the first suit but was not. Also called claim preclusion.

Answer 39

res judicata

Question 40

pertaining to a court decision that is based on the facts and on the substance of the claims, rather than on a procedural ground.

Answer 40

on the merits

Question 41

“stand by things decided” courts should decide similar cases in the same way unless there is good reason for the court to do otherwise. In resolving an issue before it, a court should be reluctant to reject precedent-a prior opinion covering a similar issue.

Answer 41

stare decisis

Question 42

sufficiently similar to justify a similar outcome or result

Answer 42

analogous

Question 43

any law that is not created within litigation. Law written by a deliberate body such as legislature or constitutional convention after it is proposed and often debated and amended.

Answer 43

enacted law

Question 44

a document submitted to a trial court that makes arguments with supporting authorities for something a party wishes to do, e.g. have a motion granted.

Answer 44

memorandum of points and authorities

Question 45

a volume or set of volumes of court opinions.

Answer 45

reporter

Question 46

judge made law in the absence of controlling statutory law or other higher law

Answer 46

common law

Question 47

exactly the same, or almost so; being a very close precedent.

Answer 47

on all fours

Question 48

an overview or thesis, paragraph at the beginning of a memorandum of law, that tells the reader what issues will be covered and briefly states the conclusions that will be reached.

Answer 48

roadmap paragraph

Question 49

governing future events; effective(having an effective date) in the future.

Answer 49

prospective