Introduction To Law 1 Flashcards
Legal analysis
The process of applying the law to specific facts. Also known as legal reasoning.
Steps in analyzing a legal situation
- Reviewing the underlying situation that is creating the legal problem and analyzing the “relevant” facts
- Reading and understanding the appropriate legal rules
- Applying those legal rules to the relevant facts
Fact bound
When even a minor change in the facts can change the outcome
Cause of action
A claim that, based on the law and the facts, is sufficient to support a lawsuit
Enacted law
Constitutions, statues, ordinances, and regulations
Constitutions
Documents ratified by the citizens of a state or nation that establish the organizational structure and the powers granted to different governmental units
Statues
Laws that are enacted by a state legislature or by Congress
Ordinances
Laws similar to statues but enacted by a local government
Regulations
Laws promulgated (обнародван) by administrative agencies
Main sources of law
- Enacted law
- Court-made law
Persuasive authority
Court decisions from an equal or a lower court from the same jurisdiction or from a court in a different jurisdiction
Mandatory authority
Court decisions from a higher court in the same jurisdiction involving similar facts and law
Precedent
One or more prior court decisions that involve the same legal issues
Stare decisis
The doctrine stating that normally once a court has decided one way on a particular issue, it and other courts in the same jurisdiction, given similar facts, will decide the same way on the issue in future cases, unless the court can be convinced of the need for change
Substantive facts
Things that happened to the parties before the litigation began and that are relevant their claims
Procedural facts
Facts that relate to what happened procedurally in the lower courts or administrative agencies before the case reached the court issuing the opinion
Legal issues
Questions about the interpretation an application of the law
Disposition
The result reached in a particular case
Affirm
The decision is affirmed when the litigants appeal the trial court decision and the higher court agrees with what the lower court has done
Reverse
A decision is reversed when the litigants appeal the trial court decision and the higher court disagrees with the decision of the lower court
Remand
When an appellate court sends a case back to the trial court for a new trial or other action
Majority opinion
An opinion in which the majority of the court joins 
Concurring opinion
An opinion that agrees with the majority’s result but disagrees with its reasoning
Dissenting opinion
An opinion that disagrees with the majority’s decision and reasoning
