Legal Skills

not for study, more like a catalog

vertical structure of federal courts

district courts > court of appeals/circuit court > supreme court

vertical structure of state courts

inferior courts > trial courts > intermediate appellate courts > state supreme court

holding

generalized decision concerning the legal issue at hand

what is the primary authority that you should always refer to first in research

statutes

stare decisis is important because

does not disturb settled points and keeps a uniform body of law

common law

rules of law come from the written decisions of judges who hear and decide litigation (judge-made law) (system of precedent)

jurisdiction

the area over which the courts of a particular judicial system are empowered to resolve disputes and thus to enforce their decisions

subject matter jurisdiction

the authority of a court to resolve disputes in only a particular subject area of the law

original jurisdiction

courts in which litigation begins

court of interior jurisdiction/courts of common pleas/small claims court

courts that only have the power to hear limited types of cases that do not publish decisions and have no precedential value

general jurisdiction

courts that may hear cases of all subject matters

trial courts are presided over with how many judges

1

what is the job of trial courts

to hold trials and determine the facts of the case

finds

determines

appeal

the process by which a party asks for review of a judicial decision by a higher court

what is the name of the party that appeals

appellant

what is the name of the party that the appeal is brought against

appellee

how many judges preside over appellate cases

an odd number in the amount of three or more

dissenting opinion

an opinion written by a judge who disagrees with the majority in appellate rulings

concurring opinion

a separate opinion written by a judge who has voted with the majority as to the outcome of the case, but with differing views about certain aspects of the case

per curiam

“by the court” meaning the opinion bears no author, and is often used in short opinions where the opinion was unanimous

appellate briefs

written documents submitted by the parties’ lawyers arguing to the appellate judges to persuade them that the court below did or did not commit an error or errors

the trial courts within the federal system are called

district courts

territorial jurisdiction

a court’s authority to preside over legal proceedings in a geographical area

what is the name of each appellate court in the federal system

United States Court of Appeals

how many appellate court federals circuits are there

13

cause of action

legal claim

what are the two primary sources of law

case law (judicial decisions) and enacted law (statutes, constitutions, and administrative regulations)

what takes precedent over case law

constitutional provisions and statutes

how many supreme courts are in each state

1

summons

document that notifies the defendant of lawsuit against them, delivered once the plaintiff files a complaint with the trial court

demurrer

a motion that asks the court to dismiss the complaint because even if the plaintiff’s alleged facts are true, the facts do not establish any cause of action, and do not provide any relief recognized by the law

discovery

the process by which the parties gather information for the lawsuit

deposition

an attorney’s oral examination of the opposing party who is under oath and of witnesses who are also under oath

interrogatories

written questions to the other party

affidavit

a written declaration of facts that the person (the affiant) swears to under oath

motion for summary judgment

asks the court to decide the case without a trial by applying the controlling law to the facts gathered through discovery

a court cannot grant a motion for summary judgment if there is

any conflict over the material facts

remand

appellate court decision to send the case back to the lower court for further proceedings in accord with the legal ruling and the reasons for that ruling

binding authority

decisions that are binding coming from precedent cases decided by that court or a higher court in the same jurisdiction

persuasive authority

cases decided by courts that do not bind the court in which a dispute is litigated

the binding authority for state courts is

higher decisions within that jurisdiction on matters of state law, its own decisions, and state statutes (as well as the U.S. Supreme Court, Constitution, and statutes)

The decisions of the Supreme Court of the United States are binding on

all courts in all jurisdictions for matters of constitutional and other federal law

diversity suits

lawsuits between parties of different states

A federal district court (the trial court) is bound by

its own decisions, the decisions of the court of appeals of the circuit in which the district court is located, and the decisions of the Supreme Court

federalism

the relationship between state courts and federal courts and state law and federal law

holding =

judgment + material facts

adjudication

the legal process of resolving a dispute or deciding a case

dicta

statements in a judicial decision that are not part of the holding, irrelevant to the decision, and not binding on later courts

what is the plural form of dicta

dictum

order for writing an analysis of a legal problem

(1) relevant statutes (2) cases interpreting that statute (3) relevant case law from the highest court of the jurisdiction (4) other reported decisions from the jurisdiction’s lower courts

prospective

applicable to future cases onlys

statutes

enacted by legislative bodies that are constitutionally empowered to exercise the legislative function within a jurisdiction

another form of enforceable law comes from

state and federal administrative bodies

what are the highest authorities within a jurisdiction that the courts are bound by

constitution and statutes

case law

cases that interpret and apply statutesca

case is not common law because

case law enforces legislature while common law originates in the courts

Id.

means the citation is the same as the previous one

reporters

volumes where judicial opinions are collected and published

caption

section of a case in a reporter giving the name of the case, the parties, the court, and the date of the decision

synopsis

part of a case that is written by a publisher that cannot be quoted or cited as authority

arguments that can be brought up in the policy section of an opinion

social goal, economic, institutional competence, judicial administration

analogous case

a case that has facts very similar to the present case that can be binding to outcome of the case

distinguishable case

cases that are different and should not control the outcome of the problem

legally significant facts are ones that tend to

prove or disprove a rule

inductive

specific to general

deductive

general to specific

factors

general category of facts that courts consider significant in proving or disproving the cause of action