Sources of law, courts and dispute

Question 1

Declaration/statement-of-facts made voluntarily and confirmed by oath/affirmation, taken before a person having authority to administer such oath/affirmation

Answer 1

Affidavit

Question 2

An assertion in an answer to a complaint that even if defendant has acted as plaintiff alleges, the defendant’s conduct was not the real/legal cause of harm to plaintiff

Answer 2

Affirmative defense

Question 3

Alternative techniques (negotiation, mediation, arbitration, med-arb, arb-med, minitrials, and summary jury trials) to resolve disputes without litigation

Answer 3

Alternative dispute resolution (ADR)

Question 4

The instrument by which a defendant admits or denies the various allegations stated in the complaint against them

Answer 4

Answer

Question 5

The party appealing a case

Answer 5

Appellant

Question 6

The other party in a case being appealed

Answer 6

Appellee

Question 7

In the event of a dispute arising out of a contract, the parties will arbitrate specific issues in a stated manner (state that the parties will arbitrate all disputes relating to or arising out of their contract)

Answer 7

Arbitration clause

Question 8

Parties to a dispute present their case to an arbitrator who makes an award but keeps it secret while the parties try to resolve the dispute through mediation. A failed mediation means the arbitration decision is binding

Answer 8

Arb/med

Question 9

A trial in which a judge, not a jury, decides all issues

Answer 9

Bench trial

Question 10

A contractual clause wherein parties agree in advance to the jurisdiction in which a dispute must be litigated

Answer 10

Choice-of-forum

clause

Question 11

The identification of the place where the court’s decision in a particular case, a statute, or a regulation is printed/can be accessed. Case … include the
names of the parties, the court, and the date of the decision.

Answer 11

Citation(s)

Question 12

The methods, procedures, and practices that govern the

processing of a civil lawsuit from start to finish

Answer 12

Civil procedure

Question 13

Litigation/arbitration brought on behalf of a group of persons (class) with common interests by a representative

Answer 13

Class action

Question 14

A type of ADR that combines mediation and negotiation (negotiations are 4-way meetings with attorneys and clients present)

Answer 14

Collaborative law

Question 15

A legal claim by defendant in opposition to/deduction from the claim of the plaintiff

Answer 15

Counterclaim

Question 16

Attorney–client privilege does not protect client

communications made to further a crime or illegal act

Answer 16

Crime-fraud exception

Question 17

A … proceeding takes place when successfully appealed case will be litigated again from the beginning

Answer 17

de novo

Question 18

A judgment that may be entered in favor of the plaintiff if the defendant does not file an answer within the time required

Answer 18

Default judgement

Question 19

The oral questioning of any person who may have helpful information about the facts of a case

Answer 19

Deposition

Question 20

A judge’s order to a jury to return a particular verdict. After presenting evidence in a jury trial, either party may assert that the other side has not produced enough evidence to support the legal claim/defense. The moving party then requests that the judge direct that a verdict be entered in favor of them

Answer 20

Directed verdict

Question 21

Process of collecting evidence to support claims in lawsuit

Answer 21

Discovery

Question 22

The principle whereby the Supreme Court has the power to decide which cases within its jurisdiction it will adjudicate

Answer 22

Discretionary review

Question 23

Dismissed with the provision that the plaintiff may not assert the same claims in another case.

Answer 23

Dismissed with prejudice

Question 24

Dismissed with the provision that the plaintiff may refile the same/modified claims and recommence litigation

Answer 24

Dismissed without prejudice

Question 25

Backward-looking negotiation that addresses past events that have caused disagreement

Answer 25

Dispute negotiation

Question 26

The power of U.S. district courts to decide lawsuits between citizens of two different states when amount in controversy exceeds $75,000

Answer 26

Diversity jurisdiction

Question 27

All the judges of a court of appeals sit together to hear and decide a particularly important or close case

Answer 27

En banc hearing

Question 28

In a diversity action in federal court, except as to matters governed by the U.S. Constitution and acts of Congress, the law to be applied in any case is the law of the state in which the federal court hearing the case is situated

Answer 28

Erie doctrine

Question 29

Federal law requiring courts to honor agreements to arbitrate and arbitration awards

Answer 29

Federal arbitration act (FFA)

Question 30

A question in a lawsuit that concerns federal law

Answer 30

Federal question

Question 31

The procedural rules that govern civil litigation in U.S. district courts

Answer 31

Federal Rules of Civil Procedure (FRCP)

Question 32

Each side submits its “best and final” offer to the arbitrator, who must choose one of the two proposals

Answer 32

Final-offer arbitration

Question 33

Personal jurisdiction based on the residence or activities of the person being sued. It is the power that a court has over the defendant itself, rather than interests in property or property itself

Answer 33

In personam jurisdiction

Question 34

Jurisdiction over property based on the location of the property at issue in the lawsuit

Answer 34

In rem jurisdiction

Question 35

Written question to a party to a lawsuit and its attorney

Answer 35

Interrogatory

Question 36

A judgment in which the judge reverses the jury verdict on the grounds that the evidence of the prevailing party was so weak that no reasonable jury could have resolved the dispute in that party’s favor

Answer 36

Judgment n.o.v. (aka judgement nonwithstanding)

Question 37

The suspension of a company’s usual document disposal procedures when there is reason to believe the documents are relevant to pending/potential litigation

Answer 37

Litigation hold procedure

Question 38

Subjection of an out-of-state defendant to state jurisdiction when the defendant is doing business/commits a civil wrong in the state

Answer 38

Long-arm statute

Question 39

When one party will not do business with the other unless it agrees to arbitrate any future disputes

Answer 39

Mandatory arbitration

Question 40

Parties to a dispute enter mediation with the commitment to submit the dispute to binding arbitration if mediation fails to resolve the conflict.

Answer 40

Med-arb

Question 41

Method of ADR in which lawyers present their cases in a trial format before a neutral third party, who acts as an adviser, or before executives of the parties to the dispute. The parties to the dispute then meet to try to resolve their differences

Answer 41

Minitrial

Question 42

A motion filed immediately after the complaint and answer have been filed. One party, usually the defendant, argues that the pleadings alone demonstrate that the action is futile

Answer 42

Motion for judgement on the pleadings

Question 43

An individual who hears complaints, engages in fact finding, and promotes informal forms of dispute resolution

Answer 43

Ombudsperson

Question 44

A summary judgment granted on some issues of a case while other issues proceed to trial

Answer 44

Partial summary judgement

Question 45

The power of a state court to hear (decide) a civil case based upon residence or location of activities of the person being sued

Answer 45

Personal jurisdiction (in personam jurisdiction)

Question 46

The formal allegations by the parties to a lawsuit of their respective claims and defenses

Answer 46

Pleadings

Question 47

Challenging the validity of a U.S. patent during the nine-month period immediately following issuance

Answer 47

Posthearing

Question 48

The request for relief in a complaint

Answer 48

Prayer

Question 49

First stage in arbitration: parties submit trial-like briefs, supporting documents, written statements to make their case

Answer 49

Prehearing

Question 50

The power of a court of appeal to send a case back to a | lower court for reconsideration

Answer 50

Remand

Question 51

The published volumes of case decisions by a particular | court or group of courts

Answer 51

Reporter

Question 52

A collection of common law rules in a particular subject area – persuasive rather than authoritative sources of law

Answer 52

Restatement

Question 53

Delivery of legal documents, such as a complaint in a lawsuit, to the party required to respond to them

Answer 53

Service of process

Question 54

A conference a judge holds to give each side a candid assessment of the strengths/weaknesses of its case and the likely outcome if the case goes to trial

Answer 54

Settlement conference

Question 55

The situation in which different U.S. Courts of Appeal | disagree on a legal issue

Answer 55

Split in circuits

Question 56

An instruction by the judge to the jury that the jury may presume that missing or altered evidence would have been unfavorable to the party causing its alteration

Answer 56

Spoilation inference

Question 57

Requirement that a party must have a sufficient stake/interest in a controversy to bring a lawsuit, and will benefit from a favorable ruling

Answer 57

Standing

Question 58

‘To stand by a decision’. Once a court resolves a particular issue, other courts addressing a similar legal problem generally follow the initial court’s decision.

Answer 58

'Stare decisis'

Question 59

Jurisdiction over cases of a particular type

Answer 59

Subject matter jurisdiction

Question 60

A test to determine whether attorney-client privilege can be extended to a party who is not the client of the attorney. The tests holds true if the employee’s communication with a corporation’s lawyer is made at the direction of the employee’s supervisors and in the course and scope of the employee’s employment

Answer 60

Subject matter test

Question 61

A procedural device available for disposition of a controversy without trial. A judge grants ... only if: - all of the written evidence before the court clearly establishes that there are no disputed issues of material fact - the party who requested the summary judgment is entitled to prevail as a matter of law

Answer 61

Summary judgement

Question 62

ADR method in which parties to a dispute put their cases before a real jury, which renders a nonbinding decision

Answer 62

Summary jury trial (SJT)

Question 63

The official notice to a defendant that a lawsuit is pending against the defendant in a particular court

Answer 63

Summons

Question 64

Forward-looking negotiations concerned with desired | relationships and future variable shared gains

Answer 64

Transactional negociations

Question 65

To nullify a previous court’s ruling – courts of appeal have the power to do this

Answer 65

Vacate

Question 66

Questioning of potential jurors to determine possible bias

Answer 66

voir dire

Question 67

Protection of information, including the private memoranda and personal thoughts of the attorney, created by the attorney while preparing a case for trial

Answer 67

Work-product doctrine