Introduction to US Law Flashcards
Civil-law system
Comprehensive codes of written laws that apply to all legal questions
Relies on scholarly interpretations
Common-law system
Body of law derived from court decisions
Arose in England in 1066
Doctrine of stare decisis
Principle that lower courts must follow precedents set by higher courts
Synthesis
Combining rulings from several legal authorities into a new rule of law
Threshold cases
Situations wiht no prior case or directly applicable law
Three most common ways to classify US law
- Criminal or civil
- By subject matter
- Substantiative or procedural
Criminal law
Branch of law that imposes penalties for wrongs against society
Civil law
Applies to legal matters not governed by criminal law and protects rights and provides remedies for breaches of duties owed to others
Burden of proof differences between civil and criminal law
Criminal: beyond a reasonable doubt
Civil: a preponderance of evidence
Examples of subject-matter classifications
Contracts, torts, agency, and property law
Own rules and precedents
Substantive law
Creates, defines, and regulates parties’ rights, duties, and powers
Procedural law
Prescribes the steps for enforcing the rights and duties defined by substantive law
Five sources of law
- Constitution
- Legislative branch
- Judicial branch
- Executive branch
- Administrative agencies
Executive branch
President/governors
Power to recommend, approve, or veto laws and carry out laws through administrative agencies
Legislative branch
Congress and state legislatures
Power to pass laws
Judicial branch
Interprets, affirms, or negates laws
Equal Protection Clause
Requires equal treatment to all persons under like circumstances and conditions
NAIC actions
Pools information to help regulators coordinate
Develops model laws, regulations, and guidelines
Diversity jurisdiction
Authority of federal district courts to hear cases involving parties from different states involving amounts over a legal minimum
Writ of certiorari
Appellate court’s order directing a lower court to deliver its record in a case for appellate review
Conflicts of law
Body of law that resolves questions when states’ laws conflict
Center of gravity rule
Law of state with most significant relationship to the case is applied
Administrative law
Statutory laws that grant power to administrative agencies to act and the body of law that is created by the agencies themselves
Motion for summary judgment
Pretrial request asking the court to enter a judgment when no material facts are in dispute
General verdict
Entails a complete finding and single conclusion by a jury
Special verdict
Makes findings of fact by answering specific questions from the judge; judge applies law to the facts
Res judicata
Bars parties to a lawsuit on which final judgment has been rendered from bringing a second lawsuit on the same claim or related transactions
Collateral estoppel
Bars parties from relitigating an issue on which a court has already ruled (even if second lawsuit differs significantly from the first)
Alternative dispute resolution
Settling disputes without litigation
Arbitration
Mediation
Negotiation
Adjudication necessity
If law specifically requires it or either party demands it
Requirements for judicial review
Agency issues a final order
Doctrine of exhaustion of administrative remedies has been satisfied
