MIDTERM

Question 1

Substantive laws

Answer 1

Laws that determine parties’ rights and obligations as opposed to the procedures used to enforce those rights

Question 2

Criminal laws

Answer 2

laws that prohibit conduct that society deems harmful and punishment can include jail time.

Question 3

Civil procedure

Answer 3

rules that apply in a civil case and determine how a civil case proceeds through our legal system

Question 4

Petition

Answer 4

A formal written request to a court for an order of the court.

Question 5

Answer

Answer 5

in law, a written pleading filed by a defendant to respond to a complaint in a lawsuit filed and served upon that defendant.

Question 6

Judgment

Answer 6

verdict when lawsuit is presented in front of a judge not a jury; also the official jury verdict published with the court to help winning party collect settlement money

Question 7

Motions

Answer 7

a formal request made to a judge for an order or judgment.

Question 8

Alternative dispute resolution (ADR)

Answer 8

the use of methods such as mediation and arbitration to resolve a dispute instead of litigation

Question 9

Arbitrator

Answer 9

an independent person or body officially appointed to settle a dispute

Question 10

Arbitration

Answer 10

the use of an arbitrator to settle a dispute:

Question 11

Secondary sources

Answer 11

treatises: Summaries and analysis specific areas of law; Legal Encyclopedias; form books

Question 12

Trial court

Answer 12

a court of law where cases are tried in the first place, as opposed to an appeals court

Question 13

Jurisdiction

Answer 13

the official power to make legal decisions and judgments:

Question 14

Court of appeals

Answer 14

any court (state or federal) which hears appeals from judgments and rulings of trial courts or lower appeals courts.

Question 15

Legal error

Answer 15

a mistake by a judge in procedure or in substantive law, during a hearing, upon petitions or motions, denial of rights, during the conduct of a trial (either granting or denying objections), on approving or denying jury instructions, on a judgment not supported by facts or applicable law

Question 16

Reverse

Answer 16

Appeals court reverses the judgment, decree, or sentence of a lower court either by substituting its own decision or by returning the case to the lower court with instructions for a new trial.

Question 17

Supreme court

Answer 17

highest appeal court in the state or federal jurisdiction. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases.

Question 18

Stare decisis

Answer 18

Latin for “to stand by a decision,” the doctrine that a trial court is bound by appellate court decisions (precedents) on a legal question which is raised in the lower court.

Question 19

Personal jurisdiction

Answer 19

a court’s jurisdiction over the parties, as determined by the facts in evidence, which bind the parties to a lawsuit, as opposed to subject-matter jurisdiction, which is jurisdiction over the law involved in the suit

Question 20

Quasi in rem jurisdiction

Answer 20

type of Personal Jurisdiction exercised by a court over a party who owns property within the jurisdictional boundaries of the court.

Question 21

Concurrent jurisdiction

Answer 21

the ability to exercise judicial review by different courts at the same time, within the same territory, and over the same subject matter.

Question 22

Long arm statute

Answer 22

is a statute that allows for a court to obtain personal jurisdiction over an out-of-state defendant on the basis of certain acts committed by an out-of-state defendant, provided that the defendant has a sufficient connection with the state.

Question 23

Venue

Answer 23

location where a trial will be heard, and is most commonly the most convenient court location to where the crime was committed, or where the civil legal action began.

Question 24

Statute of limitations

Answer 24

a statute prescribing a period of limitation for the bringing of certain kinds of legal action

Question 25

Conflict of interest

Answer 25

A situation in which the concerns or aims of two different parties are incompatible

Question 26

Retainer

Answer 26

a fee paid in advance to someone, especially an attorney, in order to secure or keep their services when required

Question 27

Agent for service of process

Answer 27

a person who receives lawsuits and other documents on behalf of your business

Question 28

Leading questions

Answer 28

a question that either suggests the answer expected or that assumes the existence of disputed facts to which the witness is to testify.

Question 29

Circumstantial evidence

Answer 29

indirect evidence. It is distinguished from direct evidence, which, if believed, proves the existence of a particular fact without any inference or presumption required. Circumstantial evidence relates to a series of facts other than the particular fact sought to be proved.

Question 30

Relevant evidence

Answer 30

evidence that has any tendency to make a fact more or less probable than it would be without the evidence and the fact is of consequence in determining the action

Question 31

Hearsay

Answer 31

second-hand evidence in which the witness is not telling what he/she knows personally, but what others have said to him/her. 2) a common objection made by the opposing lawyer to testimony when it appears the witness has violated the hearsay rule. 3) scuttlebutt or gossip.

Question 32

Expert witness

Answer 32

a person who is a specialist in a subject, often technical, who may present his/her expert opinion without having been a witness to any occurrence relating to the lawsuit or criminal case.

Question 33

Allegations

Answer 33

a claim or assertion that someone has done something illegal or wrong, typically one made without proof

Question 34

Real party in interest

Answer 34

The person or entity who will benefit from a lawsuit or petition even though the plaintiff (the person filing the suit) is someone else, often called a “nominal” plaintiff.

Question 35

Class action

Answer 35

a lawsuit filed by one or more people on behalf of themselves and a larger group of people “who are similarly situated.

Question 36

Compensatory damages

Answer 36

damages recovered in payment for actual injury or economic loss, which does not include punitive damages (as added damages due to malicious or grossly negligent action)

Question 37

Equitable relief

Answer 37

Equitable relief is a court-granted remedy that requires a party to act or refrain from performing a particular act in cases where legal remedies are not considered to provide sufficient restitution.

Question 38

Injunction

Answer 38

Injunction - a writ (order) issued by a court ordering someone to do something or prohibiting some act after a court hearing.

Question 39

Proof of services

Answer 39

delivering a summons, complaint, notice to quit tenancy or other legal document which must be served by handing it directly to the person named in the document.

Question 40

Affirmative defense

Answer 40

part of an answer to a charge or complaint in which a defendant takes the offense and responds to the allegations with his/her own charges, which are called “affirmative defenses.”

Question 41

Motion to dismiss

Answer 41

Formal request for a court to dismiss a case

Question 42

Interrogatories

Answer 42

a set of written questions to a party to a lawsuit asked by the opposing party as part of the pre-trial discovery process.

Question 43

Subpoena

Answer 43

a writ ordering a person to attend a court:

Question 44

Request for production of documents

Answer 44

the right to examine and copy the opposing party’s papers in a lawsuit which are relevant to the case.

Question 45

Certiorari

Answer 45

A writ (order) of a higher court to a lower court to send all the documents in a case to it so the higher court can review the lower court’s decision.