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Intro to Law > Chapter One > Flashcards

Chapter One Flashcards

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1
Q

Legal analysis

A

the process of applying the law to specific facts

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2
Q

Fact bound

A

Legal issues are said to be fact bound when even a minor change in the facts can change the outcome

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3
Q

Cause of action

A

a claim that based on the law and the facts, is sufficient to support a lawsuit

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4
Q

Enacted law

A

constitutions, statues, ordinances, and regulations

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5
Q

Constituion

A

the fundamental law of a nation or state

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6
Q

Statute

A

a law enacted by a state legislature or by congress

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7
Q

Ordinance

A

a law enacted by a local government, a subcategory of statutory law

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8
Q

Regulation

A

a law promulgated by an administrative agency

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9
Q

What do lawyers mainly focus on during research?

A

enacted law & court made law

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10
Q

Mandatory authority

A

court decisions from a higher court in the same jurisdiction

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11
Q

Persuasive authority

A

court decisions from an equal or a lower court from the same jurisdiction or from a court in a different jurisdiction

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12
Q

State decisis

A

the doctrine that normally once a court has decided an issue, other courts in the same jurisdiction will decide the same way

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13
Q

Substantive facts

A

things that happened to the parties before the litigation began and that are relevant to their claims

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14
Q

Procedural facts

A

actions taken by lower courts or administrative agencies before the case reached the court issuing the opinion you are reading

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15
Q

Legal issues

A

questions about interpretation and application of the law

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16
Q

Disposition

A

the result reached in a particular case

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17
Q

Affirm

A

a decision is affirmed when the litigants appeal the trial court decision and the higher court agrees with what the lower court has done

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18
Q

Reverse

A

a decision is reversed when the litigants appeal the trial court decision and the higher court disagrees with the decision of the lower court

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19
Q

Remand

A

when an appellate court sends a case back to the trial court for a new trial or other action

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20
Q

Concurring opinion

A

an opinion that agrees with the majority’s result but disagrees with its reasoning

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21
Q

Dissenting opinion

A

an opinion that disagrees with the majority’s decision and reasoning

22
Q

Case briefing

A

a method for summarizing court opinions

23
Q

Rule

A

in a case brief, the general legal principle in existence before the case began

24
Q

Issue

A

in a case brief, the statement of the problem facing the court

25
Q

Holding

A

in a case brief, the court’s answer to the issue presented

26
Q

Narrow holding

A

a statement of the court’s decision that contains many of the case’s specific facts, thereby limiting its future applicability to a narrow range of cases

27
Q

Broad holding

A

a statement of the court’s decision in which the facts are either omitted or given in very general terms so that it will apply to a wider range of cases

28
Q

Ratio decidendi

A

the court’s reasoning for its decision

29
Q

Dictum

A

a statement in a judicial opinion not necessary for the decision of the case

30
Q

Legal reasoning

A

the application of legal rules to a specific factual situation.

31
Q

Procedural question

A

Judicial history?

Legal issue? - references to cases that agrees or disagrees with the decision

32
Q

What is the official decision?

A

Disposition

Affirm, Reverse, & Demand

33
Q

Concurring

A

can affect the way law is interpreted in the future

34
Q

Dissenting

A

provide arguments that may sway other judges in the future

35
Q

Why does the study of law involve more than simply memorizing rules?

A

because it is important to know how to apply the law to specific facts, which is legal analysis. Also laws always change.

36
Q

The importance of stare decisis

A

Help guide courts on their decisions and allow changes to be made

37
Q

why is it important to know whether a set of facts are analogous to or distinguishable from those in prior court decisions

A

Bc every case is different

analogous: following stare decisis will result in the court deciding in the same way a past court did
distinguishable: then the court will make a decision on their own

38
Q

invalid cause of action

A

they do not have a legal remedy and not every problem will be supplied with one.
there no legal basis or facts

39
Q

Why does the law change?

A

in order to change communities values and overall just protecting people. Also, as time goes by, we interpret law differently

40
Q

Why is there no right answer to a case?

A

everyone has a different opinion and interpret law differently. It really does come down to morals.

41
Q

Case

A

legal opinion written by a court
it is one of the sources of positive law
promulgated by the gov

42
Q

Importance of cases

A

Courts make law just like the legislatve branch
The court’s interpretation becomes the law
Common law areas of the law
(The cases are the law, no statutes or sources)

43
Q

Trial courts

A

resolve disputes between parties

44
Q

Losing party has the right

A

to appeal to an appellate court

45
Q

The cases that you read

A

are the decisions of appellate courts

46
Q

plaintiff (appellant)

A

a person who brings a case against another in court

47
Q

defendant (appellee)

A

the respondent in a case appealed

48
Q

Where would you find constitutions, statutes, ordinances, etc

A

Legal reasoning

49
Q

The section of a case brief that contains the court’s decision is known as the

A

holding

50
Q

Law can be defined as

A

rules that help people resolve their conflicts

guidelines that show people how to interact

51
Q

In our legal system

A

we follow a doctrine known as stare decisis
in deciding a case, a court will look to prior court decisions.
prior court decisions are known as precedent

52
Q

If the Massachusetts Appeals Court (an intermediate level state appellate court) heard a case regarding a Massachusetts state law issue, which of the courts listed below could issue decisions that the Massachusetts Appeals Court would have to follow?

A

Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court

Intro to Law (11 decks)

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