L201 Chapter 1

Law

A set of principles, rules, and standards of conduct that have general application in society, are developed by a legitimate authority, and may impose sanctions for violations.

Legal Rule

A rule that requires people to conform their behavior to a particular standard.

Sanction

A penalty imposed for violating a legal rule.

Functions Of Law

Keeping the peace; enforcing standards of conduct to maintain order; facilitating planning; promoting social justice. Checking government power, promoting personal freedom, promoting economic growth through free competition, and protecting the environment.

Preventive Law

The proactive use of lawyers and legal knowledge to plan business activities, avoid legal problems, and reduce legal risk. Objectives are to arrange business plans and methods to avoid losses through fines and damage judgments, reach business goals through enforceable contracts, and avoid government prohibitions.

Constitution

Establishes the structure of government and specifies governmental powers, rights, and duties. The U.S. Constitution is the highest source of law in the United States.

Treaty

An agreement made with a foreign nation by the U.S. president and ratified by at least two-thirds of the Senate.

Statute

A law enacted by a legislative body, such as Congress or a state legislature.

Ordinance

A law enacted by a local governmental unit, such as a city or county, generally concerning local issues such as zoning or noise levels.

Administrative Rules

Rules and decisions made by government agencies that have been granted lawmaking or enforcement power by legislation.

Judicial Decisions

Decisions made by courts that interpret laws, develop common law, and determine whether government actions comply with superior law.

Federalism

A system in which the United States has a federal legal system and separate legal systems for each state.

Federal Supremacy

The principle that the U.S. Constitution is the supreme law of the land and that legitimate federal law prevails over conflicting state law.

Supremacy Clause

The constitutional rule establishing that legitimate federal law takes priority over conflicting state law.

Common Law

Court-created law that develops when courts resolve disputes for which no statute or other source of law clearly provides the answer.

Stare Decisis

The doctrine that courts should follow prior decisions involving similar facts; literally, “to adhere to decided cases.”

Precedent

A prior judicial decision that may be followed when a later case involves similar facts.

Equity

A flexible body of principles/remedies applied to achieve justice when strict application of common-law rules would produce an unfair result.

Injunction

A court order that forbids a party from doing something or requires a party to perform an act.

Specific Performance

A court order requiring a party to perform according to the terms of a contract or other legal obligation.

Reformation

A court's rewriting of a contract to reflect the actual intention of the parties.

Rescission

Cancellation of a contract.

Criminal Law

Law establishing duties owed to society at large; the government prosecutes violations and a convicted defendant may face fines, imprisonment, or other penalties.

Civil Law

Law establishing duties and obligations between private parties; the injured party brings the lawsuit and may seek monetary damages or equitable relief.

Prosecutor

A government representative who brings and prosecutes a criminal case against an alleged violator.

Plaintiff

The party who brings a civil lawsuit because they claim to have been wronged.

Defendant

The party accused of violating the law in a criminal case or the party being sued in a civil case.

Damages

Money awarded to a person who has been harmed to compensate for the injury.

Compensatory Damages

Damages intended to compensate the injured party and make them whole.

Punitive Damages

Damages awarded in some civil cases to punish especially outrageous conduct and deter similar behavior.

Substantive Law

Law that establishes the rights and duties of people in society. What the law is.

Procedural Law

Law that establishes how substantive rights and duties are enforced. How the law is enforced.

Public Law

Law concerning the relationship between governments and private parties.

Private Law

Law regulating conduct and relationships between private parties.

Checks And Balances

A system designed to prevent any one branch or level of government from having unlimited power by giving different branches and levels of government complementary powers.

Commerce Clause

The constitutional power allowing Congress to regulate interstate and foreign commerce.

Taxing Power

Congress's constitutional power to impose taxes, which can also be used to influence or regulate behavior.

Due Process Clause

A constitutional protection providing that government cannot deprive a person of protected liberty or other interests without due process of law.

Legal Reasoning

A form of critical thinking that combines analytical reasoning with an understanding of the legal system to determine and argue legal outcomes.

Deductive Reasoning

Reasoning in which a general legal rule is applied to specific facts to reach a conclusion. The slides describe legal reasoning as essentially deductive: the legal rule is the major premise and the facts are the minor premise.

Case Law Reasoning

Reasoning in which a court applies an existing precedent or distinguishes the current case from a prior case; if no applicable precedent exists, a new rule may be developed.

Statutory Interpretation

The process courts use to determine the meaning and application of a statute.

Plain Meaning Rule

The rule that courts first apply a statute according to the usual and customary meaning of its words.

Ejusdem Generis

A rule of statutory interpretation meaning “things of the same type”; when general words follow specific words, the general words are limited to things similar to the specific words.

Predictability

The ability to anticipate how legal rules will be applied; stare decisis promotes predictability by relying on prior decisions.

Orderly Change

The ability of a legal system to adapt to changing circumstances while maintaining certainty and stability.

Jurisprudence

The philosophy of law as well as the collection of laws.

Legal Positivism

Law is the command of a recognized political authority; whether a law is just or unjust, it must be obeyed.

Natural Law

Universal moral rules bind all people whether written or unwritten; unjust positive laws are considered invalid.

Sociological Jurisprudence

Examines law within its social context and emphasizes how law should adapt to social change and promote desirable social outcomes.

American Legal Realism

Defines law largely through the actual behavior and decisions of judges; focuses on “law in action” rather than merely theoretical legal rules.

Judicial Review

The power of courts to determine whether laws or government actions conflict with a superior source of law and therefore should be unenforceable.

Standing

A person's requirement to have a direct interest or stake in the outcome of a case in order to sue.

Declaratory Judgement

A court determination of the parties' rights and duties before harm occurs.