Terminology Flashcards
Analogize
to take the facts, rationale or argument of a written decision and explain how the argument relates to your case
citation
a reference to a legal precedent or authority such as a case, statute or treatise
citators
a tool used in legal research to update legal authorities by listing their subsequent history and treatment
civil law
The body of law defining offenses against the community at large,
regulating how suspects are investigated, charged and tried, and
establishing punishment for convicted offender
criminal law
the body of law defining offenses against the community at large, regulating how suspects are investigated, charged and tried, and establishing punishment for convicted offenders
court rules
Rules that control the operation of the courts and the conduct of the litigants appearing before the court
digests
a case finding tool that organizes cases by subject and within each subject, provides summaries of cases that discusses the law on that subject
distinguishing an authority
Taking the facts, rationale or arguments of a written decision or other primary authority and showing the differences between that authority and your case, even id on the surface they seem similar
index
an alphabetical listing of items (topics of names) available in the resource along with an indication of where each item may be found within the work
hypothetical
discussion of a legal principle based on a fictitious or assumed set of facts
moot court
a fictitious court held, usually in law schools, to argue hypothetical cases, especially at the appellate level
persuasive authority
authority that carries some weight but is not binding on a court
pinpoint citation
the page on which a quotation or relevant passage appears, as opposed to the page on which a case or article begins
procedural law
rules that describe the steps for having a right or duty judicially enforced, as opposed to the law that defines the specific rights and duties themselves
relevance
relation or pertinence to the issue at hand
relief
the compensation or benefit that a party asks of another party, sometimes received through settlement and other times through received through the courts
respondent
the party against whom an appeal is taken (appellee); the party against whom a motion or petition is filed
Socratic method
a technique of law school instruction, whereby a professor questions one or more students, building on each answer with another question
substantive law
the part of the law that creates, defines and regulates the rights, duties and powers of parties
uniform laws
an unofficial law proposed as legislation for all the states to adopt exactly as written, the purpose being to promote greater consistency among the states
primary legal authority
authority that issues directly from a lawmaking body such as constitutions, legislation, regulations and the reports of litigated cases (court opinions) among others
primary authority
authority issued from a non-lawmaking body that must be followed by the individuals/entities covered by the organization
secondary legal authority
authority that explains the law but does not itself establish the law, such as a treatise, annotation or law review article among others
mandatory (binding) legal authority
a primary legal authority that is binding on a court
persuasive legal authority
a primary legal authority that is not binding on a court, but the court may still rely on the authority when making its determination or a secondary authority
federal jurisdiction
a federal court’s power to hear matters
state jurisdiction
a state court’s power to hear matters
Table of Contents: usually located at the beginning of the work, it provides a list of chapters/sections within the work, often in outline form, and the page numbers where the topics and chapters begin
regulation
a primary authority that stems from the executive branch
appeal
to seek review by a higher court
appellate
one who brings the appeal of the lower court decision
appellate briefs
written argument submitted to the appellate court system in support of your position on appeal
appellee
one against whom the appeal is brought and must respond to the appeal
case
generally used in law to refer to the written decision of the court
case law
all reported decisions within a jurisdiction. May consist of common law decisions as well as judicial decisions interpreting statutes, regulations, constitutions, etc.
case reporters
court opinions are gathered together and published in chronological order in print
common law
the body of judge-mad law having no basis in statutes
concurrence
a vote cast by a judge in favor of the judgment reached, often on grounds different from those expressed in the opinion explaining the judgment
defendant
a person sued in civil proceeding or accused in a criminal proceeding
dicta
a comment by a court that is unnecessary to a decision and therefore not precedential
dissent
a disagreement with the majority opinion; opinion by one or more judges who disagree with the decision reached by the majority
federal district courts
the trial court level in the federal court system
federal circuit courts
the appellate court level in the federal court system
headnotes
a brief summary of a specific point of law decided in a case
Illinois circuit courts
the trial court in the Illinois state court system
Illinois district courts
the appellate court level in the Illinois state court system
immediate appellate courts
appellate courts are in the middle of the judicial hierarchy in a jurisdiction, they are considered the intermediate court
judge
a public official appointed or elected to hear and decide legal matters in court
judiciary
he branch of government responsible for interpreting the law and administering justice; a body of judges
justice
a judge, especially of an appellate court
litigator
a lawyer who prepares cases for trial as by conducting discovery and pretrial motions, trying cases and handling appeals; a trial lawyer
litigation
the process of carrying on a lawsuit; the lawsuit itself
litigant
a party of a lawsuit
majority opinion
an opinion joined in by more than half of the judges considering a given case
minority opinion
an opinion by one or more judges who disagree with the decision reached by the majority
official reporter
the governmentally approved publication reproducing reported cases within a given jurisdiction
parallel citation
an additional reference to a case that has been reported in more than one reporter
petitioner
a party who presents a petition to a court or other official body, especially when seeking relief on appeal
plaintiff
the party who brings a civil suit in a court of law
precedent
a decided case that furnished a basis for determining later cases involving similar facts or issues
stare decisi
to stand by things decided”, and American legal system doctrine of precedent under which it is necessary for a court to follow earlier judicial decision when the same points are again in litigation
supreme court
this is the court of last resort, or highest court in the judicial hierarchy
table of authorities
the list of primary authorities and secondary authorities relied upon in the document you are viewing
trial courts
trial courts are at the bottom of the judicial hierarchy in a jurisdiction
unofficial reporter
the private publications reproducing the reported decisions within a given jurisdiction
code
the subject arrangement of the laws or regulations of a jurisdiction
annotated code
a publication of all the laws of a jurisdiction organized by subject mater which contains research references that include summaries of cases or citations to secondary sources that discuss that particular law
federal stature
written laws passed by Congress
legislative history
he proceedings leading up to the enactment of a statute
session laws
a body of statutes enacted by a legislature during a particular annual or biennial session; the books containing these statutes
state statute
written laws passed by the state legislature
statute
a law passed by a legislative body
statute at large
an official compilation of the acts and resolutions that become law from each session of Congress
statutory annotatinos
used to refer to brief summaries of court decisions interpreting and applying statutes as well as summaries of secondary materials referencing the statutory section
unannotated code
a publication of all the laws of a jurisdiction organized by subject matter
American law reports
a secondary source that publishes articles that summarize the case law across jurisdictions dealing with a particular legal topic
legal encyclopedia
a secondary source that provides a general overview of the law on a variety of topics
legal periodicals
secondary sources consisting of law review, law journals, association journals, newspapers and other periodically published news items
restatement
a type of secondary authority that is published by the American Law Institute
treatise
a type of secondary authority that extensively covers on topic
