LJA 204 Exam 1

All definitions

law

set of rules and procedures usually intended to regulate some aspect of society; created by federal, state, and local governments

canon law

used to regulate many religious organizations

bylaws

used by corporations and many business, social, and charitable organizations; establish how the board of directors operates

civil law systems

a legal system based on written laws or codes. A type of law that control private disputes between parties

common law

a body of law developed through the courts; Louisiana does not use

constitution

a document whose primary purpose is to establish a gov and define its powers

code

an organized compilation of existing laws

precedent

the example set by the decision os an earlier court for similar cases or similar legal questions that arise in later cases

binding precedent

the court must follow what a previous court did

stare decisis

“It stands declared”; another term for precedent

natural theory of law

a philosophical theory holding that law reflects the moral and unchangeable laws of nature; when a law fails to do this, it is unjust and need not be obeyed

legal positivism

a philosophical theory holding that the validity of law is not related to morality

legal realism

a philosophical theory that laws are created by judges and therefore subject to individual beliefs and prejudices

tort

a non contractual civil wrong; aimed at compensating the victim for their loss

statue of limitations

a law that places a time limit on when a lawsuit can be filed

substantive laws

laws that define our rights and obligations; EX: a law that makes burglary a crime

procedural laws

laws that dictate how we enforce our rights and obligations; EX: a law that gives anyone accused of burglary the right to a jury trial

crime

an act in violation of a criminal statue

rules of court

procedural rules adopted by all ourts regulating practice in the court

due process of law

the existence of a law that prohibits the conduct in question before the violation occurs; a law that is sufficiently certain and clear so that an individual is capable of knowing what is permissible and what is illegal; a specifically described penalty that is to be imposed in the event a person is found guilty

jurisdiction

the power of authority to act in a certain situation; the power of a court to hear cases and render judgments

liable

a finding of responsibility in a civil case; being held legally responsible

indigent

without funds or assets and therefore unable to afford an attorney

burden of proof

the necessity of establishing a particular fact or the necessity of going forward with the evidence

acquittal

a finding of not guilty in a criminal case

hung jury

a jury that cannot attain the necessary consensus or majority to reach a verdict

pi

plantiff

delta

defendent

persuasive precedent

the court is not obligated to follow the previous court but it gives good guidance

federalism

a system of gov in which the people are regulated by both federal and state govs

express powers

powers given to congress that are spelled out in the Constitution Article 1, Section 8; gives congress the right to regulate such matters as the coining of money, the post office, and the military

implied powers

the power that congress has to regulate that is derived from the express powers

preemption

a doctrine referring to the right of the federal gov to be the exclusive lawmaker in certain areas

supremacy clause

making the laws of the U.S. the supreme law of the land

Ex post facto

“After the fact” refers to laws that impose criminal responsibility for acts that were not crimes at the time the acts occured

police powers

the authority of the state to make laws that provide for the general health, welfare, and safety of its citizens; however, they cannot make laws that conflict with federal laws

commerce clause

a section of the U.S. Constitution giving the U.S. congress the right to regulate foreign and interstate commerce

minimum rights

states cannot go below this threshold, but can provide additional rights beyond those listed

separation of powers

the constitutional doctrine that each of the 3 branches of gov has separate and distinct powers

checks and balances

the constitutional doctrine that each of the 3 branches of gov operates as a check on the powers of the other branches

factual controversy

what is at issue? can be criminal issue, contact issue, or tort issue

no advisory law

U.S. courts do not issue advisory opinions on future issues

invalidate state law

courts can rule that laws are violations of the constitution (federal or state) and rule that the law is unconstitutional

original jurisdiction

the power to first hear a case; court of original jurisdiction is where trial takes place

trial

the open-court process where all parties present, evidence, question witnesses, and generally put their case before the court

trier of fact

in a trial, the one who determines the true facts; either a jury of a case is tried without a juyr, the judge

federal jurisdiction

the power of the federal courts to hear a case

diversity of citizenship

a basis for federal court jurisdiction where the plaintiff and defendant are residents of different states and the amount in controversy exceeds $75,000

en bac

the entire panel of judges on a court hearing case

appellate jurisdiction

the power of a court to review what happened in a lower court

record

documentation of the proceedings at trial used for an appeal

appellate briefs

a written document containing factual and legal contentions; prepared by attorneys dealing with an appeal in a case

jury instructions

the directions read to the jury by the judge; they simplify the law applicable to the case

affirm

to uphold; used in connection with an appeal to uphold the lower courts decision

reverse

to change

remand

to send back

petition for writ of certiorari

a document filed with the supreme court requesting a hearing

municipal/county courts

hears civil cases, traffic offenses, less serious criminal offenses (misdemeanors)

circuit court

hears civil cases where the amount in dispute exceeds a certain threshold, or more serious felony offenses

oral-argument

the lawyers argue directly to 3 judges

non-argument

judges decide based on the briefs and record

court clerk

a court employee who assists the court and judge by filing documents, marking, safeguarding evidence, and reviewing documents that are submitted to the judge, and performing other similar tasks

court reporter

a person who rewards the testimony that takes place during the open court proceedings, the court reporter will produce and transcript

reciprocity

when a state allows an attorney to become barred in their state because that lawyer is barred in a different state

paralegal

individual whose training and education enables that person to assist lawyers by performing certain legal tasks that traditionally have been done by lawyers

law clerks

law student interning or working in a law firm while attending school

legal memorandum

and informal interoffice document written to communicate the results of legal research and legal analysis

disbarment

the action of denying an attorney the right to prosecute law in the state

ethical considerations:

confidentiality, competency, conflict of interest, communication with opposing parties, advertising

trust account

a special bank account maintained by an attorney into which funds belonging to the clients are kept

escrow account

a type of trust account in which funds are held until some condition occurs

comingling

mixing client funds with the attorney’s business or personal funds

primary sources

resources that provide the actual law (statutes, case law, constitution, rules, regulations)

secondary sources

tools used to understand the law (dictionaries, encyclopedia, form books, periodicals, treatise, digests, citators)

relevant facts

key or significant facts

explanatory facts

help the researcher understand what happened. they are not relevant in a legal sense to the issue

unnecessary facts

the information in this category is irrelevant to the legal issue

bifurcate

to serve from the trial; in family law, it means the divorce or dissolution may be granted, but the parties will need to come back to adjudicate the other issues

digest

a document that has a summary of relevant case law

form books

a legal resource filled with the sample forms and explanations on how and when to use the forms; some are online in legal databases

law reviews

a publication containing articles written by judges, professors, and attorneys; it also contains case summaries written by law school students

reporters

a set of published volumes of cases by courts

westlaw

fee based computer assisted legal research provided by Thompson-Rueter West

Bloomberg law and LexisNexis

fee based computer assisted legal research provided by Lexis

caselaw reporters

books filled with decisions of various courts

regional reporters

set of published volumes of cases by courts in specific regions of the U.S.

internet

cases are generally public documents, and anyone can publish cases. Depending on the site, the cases may not be organized or easily accessible

United States reports

official publication of the United States

supreme court reporter

westlaws unofficial publication

lawyers edition

LexisNexis unofficial publication

brief

a written document that might contain a summary of the facts, issues, rules, and analysis used by a court, and a comparison with a client’s facts

case brief

a short summary of a published case

statutes or codes

a legislatively created law; a written enactment

annotated statutes

statutes that include text interpreting the statute and occasionally relevant cases law dealing with the statute

pocket parts

removable supplement to a volume of statutory law; includes all changes of additions to the materials contained in the hardbound edition

computer assisted legal research (CALR)

legal research done with the use of a computer

full text searching

legal research method utilized in computer-assisted legal research, in which all documents in a database are searched for certain words

query

words that constitute a search request when using online materials

keywords

words that describe important aspects of a research question

passive voice

a motion to suppress the confession was brought by the defendant