Chapter 1 — Law and Legal Reasoning Flashcards

Vocabulary flashcards covering key terms, primary legal sources, administrative procedures, court remedies, schools of thought, and legal classifications from Chapter 1.

Law

Enforceable rules that govern relationships between individuals, individuals and society, and individuals and the government.

Constitutional Law

Law based on the U.S. Constitution and state constitutions, where the U.S. Constitution serves as the supreme law of the land.

Tenth Amendment

An amendment to the U.S. Constitution that reserves powers not given to the federal government to the states.

Statutory Law

Laws created by legislative bodies, including federal statutes by Congress, state statutes by state legislatures, and local ordinances.

Ordinance

A law passed by a city or county government dealing with matters such as zoning, building codes, and safety regulations.

Administrative Law

Rules, orders, and decisions created by government administrative agencies to perform specific functions.

Case Law

Law created through court decisions where judges interpret the Constitution, statutes, and administrative regulations.

Primary Source of Law

A document that actually creates or establishes law, such as a constitution, statute, regulation, or court decision.

Secondary Source of Law

A publication that explains or summarizes the law without creating it, such as legal encyclopedias, law review articles, treatises, and Restatements of the Law.

National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws (NCCUSL)

An organization created in 1892 that drafts uniform model laws for states to consider adopting.

Uniform Commercial Code (UCC)

A uniform law adopted in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and the Virgin Islands that creates consistent rules for commercial transactions.

Administrative Process

The three major functions performed by administrative agencies: rulemaking, enforcement/investigation, and adjudication.

Enabling Legislation

A statute passed by Congress to create a federal administrative agency, establishing its name, purpose, powers, and organizational structure.

Administrative Procedure Act (APA)

An act establishing the legal procedures that administrative agencies generally must follow, including rule-making processes.

Notice-and-Comment Process

A three-step rulemaking procedure involving notice published in the Federal Register, a public comment period, and publication of the final rule.

Legislative Rules

Administrative agency rules that are legally binding on businesses and individuals.

Interpretive Rules

Administrative agency statements that explain how an agency plans to interpret or enforce existing laws, which are not legally binding.

Administrative Law Judge (ALJ)

An official who conducts trial-like administrative hearings and has the power to issue decisions, fines, or prohibitions.

Common Law

A body of legal rules developed from court decisions, customs, and judicial principles originating in the English king's courts after 1066.

Precedent

A previous court decision that provides legal authority for deciding later cases with similar facts or legal issues.

Stare Decisis

A core common law doctrine under which judges are generally expected to follow established precedents to ensure consistency and stability.

Binding Authority

Any source of law that a court is required to follow when deciding a case.

Persuasive Authority

Legal authority or court decisions that a court may consider for guidance but is not obligated to follow.

IRAC Method

A structured legal analysis method standing for Issue, Rule, Application, and Conclusion.

Remedy

The relief given to an innocent party by a court to enforce a right or compensate for the violation of a right.

Remedies at Law

Court remedies that typically involve monetary compensation or property.

Remedies in Equity

Non-monetary judicial remedies applied when legal remedies are inadequate, including specific performance, injunction, and rescission.

Specific Performance

An equitable remedy in which the court commands a party to perform precise obligations promised under a contract.

Injunction

An equitable remedy ordering a party to do or refrain from doing a specific act.

Rescission

An equitable remedy that cancels a contract and seeks to return parties to the positions they held prior to forming the agreement.

Equitable Maxims

General legal principles and rules of fairness that courts use when determining whether to grant equitable relief.

Laches

An equitable doctrine that prevents a party from bringing a claim if they have unreasonably delayed doing so.

Statute of Limitations

A legislative statute that establishes a precise legal time threshold for filing a lawsuit.

Natural Law

A school of legal thought asserting that law rests on universal moral and ethical principles that apply to all human beings.

Legal Positivism

A school of legal thought holding that there is no law higher than the positive law created by a government, which must be obeyed until altered.

Historical School

A school of legal thought emphasizing that law develops over time through legal history, traditions, and historical decisions.

Legal Realism

A school of legal thought advocating that legal outcomes are shaped by real-world social conditions and the background and personality of judges.

Substantive Law

The law that defines, describes, regulates, and creates legal rights and obligations.

Procedural Law

The law that outlines the rules and legal machinery for enforcing substantive rights.

Private Law

The legal area dealing with relations and disputes between private individuals or non-governmental organizations.

Public Law

The legal area dealing with relationships between individuals or organizations and government authorities.

Cyberlaw

An informal term used to describe existing and emerging legal principles applied to internet activities and online environments.

Civil Law

The branch of law governing non-criminal legal duties and rights between private individuals, businesses, or government entities.

Criminal Law

The branch of law defining acts that constitute public wrongs against society, prosecuted directly by government entities.

Plaintiff

The party who initiates a lawsuit in a court of law.

Defendant

The party against whom a civil action or criminal prosecution is brought.

Common Law System

A legal system based heavily on court decisions, precedent, and judicial custom, utilized in countries like the U.S., U.K., Canada, and Australia.

Civil Law System

A legal system grounded primarily in comprehensive legislative codes rather than binding judicial precedent, used in continental Europe and elsewhere.

National Law

The law of a specific nation that can be directly enforced by its own domestic government.

International Law

A body of legal rules that governs relationships and interactions among independent sovereign nations.

Rulemaking

The process by which an administrative agency creates new regulations or changes existing regulations.

Administrative Agency

A federal, state, or local government agency created to perform a specific function.

Federal Executive Agency

An agency within the executive branch that is subject to the president's authority, including the president's power to appoint and remove its officers.

Independent Regulatory Agency

A federal agency whose officers serve fixed terms and have more independence from presidential control than executive agencies.

Investigation and Enforcement

An administrative agency function in which the agency investigates possible violations and can take action against individuals or businesses that violate regulations.

Adjudication

The process in which an administrative law judge conducts a trial-like hearing and makes a decision about a dispute involving an agency's rules.

Legal Reasoning

The process of analyzing facts, identifying the applicable law, applying the law to the facts, and reaching a conclusion.

Case on Point

A previous case involving the same legal issue and very similar facts as the current case.

Jurisprudence

The study of law and the different philosophies or schools of legal thought that influence how judges make decisions.

Dissenting Opinion

An opinion written by a judge who disagrees with the decision of the majority.

Concurring Opinion

An opinion written by a judge who agrees with the court's decision but gives different or additional reasoning.