Chapter One

Question 1

Legal analysis

Answer 1

the process of applying the law to specific facts

Question 2

Fact bound

Answer 2

Legal issues are said to be fact bound when even a minor change in the facts can change the outcome

Question 3

Cause of action

Answer 3

a claim that based on the law and the facts, is sufficient to support a lawsuit

Question 4

Enacted law

Answer 4

constitutions, statues, ordinances, and regulations

Question 5

Constituion

Answer 5

the fundamental law of a nation or state

Question 6

Statute

Answer 6

a law enacted by a state legislature or by congress

Question 7

Ordinance

Answer 7

a law enacted by a local government, a subcategory of statutory law

Question 8

Regulation

Answer 8

a law promulgated by an administrative agency

Question 9

What do lawyers mainly focus on during research?

Answer 9

enacted law & court made law

Question 10

Mandatory authority

Answer 10

court decisions from a higher court in the same jurisdiction

Question 11

Persuasive authority

Answer 11

court decisions from an equal or a lower court from the same jurisdiction or from a court in a different jurisdiction

Question 12

State decisis

Answer 12

the doctrine that normally once a court has decided an issue, other courts in the same jurisdiction will decide the same way

Question 13

Substantive facts

Answer 13

things that happened to the parties before the litigation began and that are relevant to their claims

Question 14

Procedural facts

Answer 14

actions taken by lower courts or administrative agencies before the case reached the court issuing the opinion you are reading

Question 15

Legal issues

Answer 15

questions about interpretation and application of the law

Question 16

Disposition

Answer 16

the result reached in a particular case

Question 17

Affirm

Answer 17

a decision is affirmed when the litigants appeal the trial court decision and the higher court agrees with what the lower court has done

Question 18

Reverse

Answer 18

a decision is reversed when the litigants appeal the trial court decision and the higher court disagrees with the decision of the lower court

Question 19

Remand

Answer 19

when an appellate court sends a case back to the trial court for a new trial or other action

Question 20

Concurring opinion

Answer 20

an opinion that agrees with the majority’s result but disagrees with its reasoning

Question 21

Dissenting opinion

Answer 21

an opinion that disagrees with the majority’s decision and reasoning

Question 22

Case briefing

Answer 22

a method for summarizing court opinions

Question 23

Rule

Answer 23

in a case brief, the general legal principle in existence before the case began

Question 24

Issue

Answer 24

in a case brief, the statement of the problem facing the court

Question 25

Holding

Answer 25

in a case brief, the court's answer to the issue presented

Question 26

Narrow holding

Answer 26

a statement of the court's decision that contains many of the case's specific facts, thereby limiting its future applicability to a narrow range of cases

Question 27

Broad holding

Answer 27

a statement of the court's decision in which the facts are either omitted or given in very general terms so that it will apply to a wider range of cases

Question 28

Ratio decidendi

Answer 28

the court's reasoning for its decision

Question 29

Dictum

Answer 29

a statement in a judicial opinion not necessary for the decision of the case

Question 30

Legal reasoning

Answer 30

the application of legal rules to a specific factual situation.

Question 31

Procedural question

Answer 31

Judicial history? | Legal issue? - references to cases that agrees or disagrees with the decision

Question 32

What is the official decision?

Answer 32

Disposition | Affirm, Reverse, & Demand

Question 33

Concurring

Answer 33

can affect the way law is interpreted in the future

Question 34

Dissenting

Answer 34

provide arguments that may sway other judges in the future

Question 35

Why does the study of law involve more than simply memorizing rules?

Answer 35

because it is important to know how to apply the law to specific facts, which is legal analysis. Also laws always change.

Question 36

The importance of stare decisis

Answer 36

Help guide courts on their decisions and allow changes to be made

Question 37

why is it important to know whether a set of facts are analogous to or distinguishable from those in prior court decisions

Answer 37

Bc every case is different analogous: following stare decisis will result in the court deciding in the same way a past court did distinguishable: then the court will make a decision on their own

Question 38

invalid cause of action

Answer 38

they do not have a legal remedy and not every problem will be supplied with one. there no legal basis or facts

Question 39

Why does the law change?

Answer 39

in order to change communities values and overall just protecting people. Also, as time goes by, we interpret law differently

Question 40

Why is there no right answer to a case?

Answer 40

everyone has a different opinion and interpret law differently. It really does come down to morals.

Question 41

Case

Answer 41

legal opinion written by a court it is one of the sources of positive law promulgated by the gov

Question 42

Importance of cases

Answer 42

Courts make law just like the legislatve branch The court's interpretation becomes the law Common law areas of the law (The cases are the law, no statutes or sources)

Question 43

Trial courts

Answer 43

resolve disputes between parties

Question 44

Losing party has the right

Answer 44

to appeal to an appellate court

Question 45

The cases that you read

Answer 45

are the decisions of appellate courts

Question 46

plaintiff (appellant)

Answer 46

a person who brings a case against another in court

Question 47

defendant (appellee)

Answer 47

the respondent in a case appealed

Question 48

Where would you find constitutions, statutes, ordinances, etc

Answer 48

Legal reasoning

Question 49

The section of a case brief that contains the court’s decision is known as the

Answer 49

holding

Question 50

Law can be defined as

Answer 50

rules that help people resolve their conflicts | guidelines that show people how to interact

Question 51

In our legal system

Answer 51

we follow a doctrine known as stare decisis in deciding a case, a court will look to prior court decisions. prior court decisions are known as precedent

Question 52

If the Massachusetts Appeals Court (an intermediate level state appellate court) heard a case regarding a Massachusetts state law issue, which of the courts listed below could issue decisions that the Massachusetts Appeals Court would have to follow?

Answer 52

Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court