Unit 3 - Legal Problem Solving

Question 1

what is the problem-solving model?

Answer 1

1. identify client objective and issues
2. gather relevant facts
3. identify potentially relevant law
4. apply the law to the facts
5. identify possible solutions
6. select the most appropriate solution

Question 2

what is a law report?

Answer 2

published account of a legal proceeding

Question 3

what do law reports contain?

Answer 3

judgement of a case

review of the facts

reasoning behind the decision

Question 4

which cases are most likely to be reported in law reports?

Answer 4

cases heard in higher courts e.g. supreme court because they have to be of some significance to be referred to higher court

Question 5

what are the four series of the Law Reports?

Answer 5

AC : appeals cases

QB : queens bench division

Fam: family division

Ch : chancery division

Question 6

what are the All England Law Reports

Answer 6

published by lexisnexis

highly respected law report series

produce judgement, review of the facts and catchwords summarising main legal aspects of the case

include headnote which summarises the facts of the case and the points of law

Question 7

what is the hierarchy of law reports (which to use when writing an essay)

Answer 7

the law reports
weekly law reports
all England law reports

Question 8

what does this citation mean?

Jordan v Burgoyne [1963] 2 QB 744

Answer 8

the case starts at page 744, of volume two of the queens bench series of the law reports for 1963

Question 9

neutral citations

Answer 9

introduced to manage teh increasing publication of online transcripts

citation is made up of the year, abbreviation of the name of the court and a running serial number ( reverts to 1 at the beginning of a new year)

Example : supreme court [2017] UKSC 1, 2, 3
court of appeal civil division: EWCA Civ 1, 2, 3

Question 10

what should you look for in a case?

Answer 10

name of the case 
the court 
judges 
dates 
subject matter
headnote

Question 11

what do the following words mean?

• affirmed
• applied
• approved
• considered
• distinguished
• overruled
• reversing
• semble

Answer 11

affirmed : court agrees with decision of lower court

applied : court regards itself bound by decision in an earlier case and has used same reasoning

approved: a higher court states a different case was correctly decided by a lower court

considered : the court discussed a different, often one by an equal status

distinguished : where a court has no power, or no wish to overrule an earlier different case but has found a compelling difference so it does not need to follow precedent

overruled : court overturns a decision in a different case of a lower court

reversing : where a higher court on appeal overturns the decision of a lower court

Question 12

what is the difference between primary and secondary legislation

Answer 12

primary legislation - statutes

secondary - made under powers delegated by parliament (statutory instruments, bye-laws)

Question 13

what are the steps in conducting legal research

Answer 13

1. analyse the problem
2. choose search terms
3. identify the appropriate source
4. update
5. present findings in an appropriate format

Question 14

name some electronic databases

Answer 14

west law
lexislibrary
lawtel