Legal Research/Writing I Flashcards
P
Plaintiff
D
Defendant
§
Section
K
Contract(s)
Jdx
Jurisdiction
J/
Judgment for…
Rev’d
Reserved
Aff’d
Affirmed
TC
Trial Court
AC
Appellate Court
TRO
Temporary Restraining Order
MTD
Motion to Dismiss
MSJ
Motion for Summary Judgment
Ev.
Evidence
b/c
Because
a/st
Against
E’er
Employer
E’ee
Employee
w/
With
w/o
Without
re:
About
Is this correct? Why or why not?
Beavis and Butthead vs. Burger World
No.
vs.–> v.
Beavis and Butthead—> Beavis
What is the difference between a textual sentence and a stand-alone sentence?
A textual sentence is just a sentence: when the citation is an integral part of a larger sentence. A stand alone sentence in citations in a sentence that is made entirely of citation(s) that relate directly to the previous sentence.
Can you abbreviate the names of the US or states while citing a case?
No. It has to be the full “United States”, or “Georgia”.
True or False
You should include prepositional phrases in case citations
False, unless followed by “city” or similar word
How should a properly written case name be otherwise formatted?
Underscored or italicized
What is a parallel citation?
A citation that provides all of the official and unofficial reporters a case can be found in
True or False:
Paralegals must always accurately cite case information, including page number, so the reader can find exactly where the actual case material is.
True
What are the four types of statutes?
Public law, private law, permanent law, temporary law
What counts as a block quote?
Over 50 words
Are you a hard worker?
Yes
Is the United States Reports the official reporter of the U.S. Supreme Court?
Yes
What is a string citation?
Citing multiple cases in the same citation sentence
What is jurisdiction?
The ability to take legal action/power for a court to hear a case
What is primary law?
A real source of actual law that courts have to abide by
What is secondary law?
Sources that provide an annotated and/or summarized version of laws for readers to develop a more nuanced and complex understanding of the law in a shorter amount of time.
What is a writ of certiorari?
When a higher court confirms a lower courts appeal for review of a case, and asks them to send the case for that review.
How long are federal judges appointed for?
For life
What is federalism?
The sharing of powers between state and federal governments
What is jurisdiction?
The power to take legal action/the power for a court to hear a case
What states make up the 11th circuit Court of Appeals?
Alabama, Florida, Georgia
What is the difference between primary and secondary authorities?
Primary authorities are the actual written law that must be followed in court, secondary authorities are third party annotated versions of the law given for context and nuance
What is a compromise bill?
If both Senate and House pass similar bills, a conference committee works out differences and makes one of these
What is the difference between Lexis and Nexis in LexisNexis?
Lexis is research, Nexis is storage
What is CAR?
Computer-aided research
Do you have to shepardize or keycite all primary authorities as a paralegal?
YES!
Does each state have its own code?
Yes
Who publishes USCA?
West(law)
Who publishes USCS?
LexisNexis
Follow the bluebook unless there is a what?
Local Rule
What is the supreme court official reporter?
United States Reports
What does Id mean?
A reference to the previous case cited
Which of the following is not an element of a case? (Names of counsel, code section, date of decision, opinion)
Code Section
Which of the following is not part of a typical case citation as per the bluebook? (Reporter name, case name, history of case, month of decision)
Month of decision
Which of the following documents is not part of legislative history? (Committee Reports, debate transcripts, cabinet transcripts, versions of a bill)
Cabinet transcripts
Does every state have an official reporter?
Yes
Where can the states’ official reports be found?
In the bluebook, under T1.3, next to the state’s name
If an exam question asks you for a citation, where do you cite the case to?
The most relevant reporter (maybe regional)
If an exam question asks you for a parallel citation, where do you cite it to?
All published reports, including official and unofficial
Who is the official reporter for the Federal Court of Appeals?
Federal Reporter (F., F.2d, F.3d)
Based on the citation, how do you know if the case is in the federal court of appeals?
When it has a circuit listed and parentheses
What are the seven regional reporters?
Pacific, Southern, South Western, South Eastern, North Western, North Eastern, Atlantic
Where in the bluebook is the rule for citing cases?
Rule 10
What is the abbr for the GA State code?
O.C.G.A.
What is rule 12 in the bluebook?
States rules for citing statutes
What is a digest?
A book or index arranging one sentence summaries of cases by subject
Whats an example of a digest?
The Decennials, American Law Reports
What are common features of digests?
Organized by uniform classification, descriptive word indexes, table of cases, supplementation, cross referencing
Whats a legal encyclopedia?
Alphabetically arranged legal topics, first half is legal summaries
Whats a legal periodical?
Regular publications that discuss legal topics
What do treatises have?
Format, table of contents, index, table of cases, table of statutes, appendices, updating
What are restatements?
What they sound like. Published by the ALR, they restate complicated and specific parts of the law
What’s the difference between the Whitepages and the Bluepages?
Whitepages teach how to cite for academic review/law journal. Bluepages teach how to convert law review format to court docs and memorandas
OPAC
Online Access Public Catalog
(Obiter) dictum
“in passing” (a comment made in a case reasoning that isn’t precedential)
ratio decidendi
Reason for deciding
Where in the Constitution is the federal court system established?
Article III
What is the difference between Federal Question Jurisdiction and Diversity Jurisdiction?
Diversity jurisdiction is a federal ability to handle cases with plaintiffs from different states, so the states aren’t biased or misinformed about the laws in their separate jurisdictions. The suing amount must be >75,000.
Federal Question Jurisdiction is the federal courts’ ability to handle cases that deal with federal laws.
How many groups of statutes are there in U.S.C.?
54
One of the only hard and fast rules of law is what relating to pocket parts and legal research books.?
If a legal tomb has a pocket part, you must consult it since its the newer information.
What’s a slip law?
The first part of a three part codification of Congressional laws. Real laws, public or private.
Why is using USCA or USCS for legal research better than USC?
USC is slower to update and has no annotations. USCA & USCS have added details
What code sources do USCA and USCS use?
USCA uses USC and USCS uses USSL (US Statues at large)
CIS
Congressional Information Serivce
FDsys
Currently Govinfo, previously Federal Digital System
USCCAN
United States Code and Congressional Administrative News
USCA
United States Code Annotated
PACER
Public Access to Court Electronic Records
USCS
United States Code Service
USC
United States Code
Stare Decisis
“to stand by things decided”
Writ of Certiorari
An order from a higher court to a lower court to have the appealed case info sent to the higher court
Pro Hac Vice
“for this turn”- used for one-time attorney passes to work on a case outside of their jurisdiction
