The document provides guidance for law students on how to read and understand legal opinions. It explains that legal opinions are written explanations by judges for rulings in lawsuits. Opinions follow a standard structure, beginning with identifying information like the case name and parties involved. They then present the relevant facts of the case, discuss the applicable law, and apply the law to the facts to reach a conclusion. The document outlines key legal terms and concepts law students will encounter in opinions and emphasizes the importance of understanding the specific facts, legal arguments, and outcome of each case.
This document provides instructions for how to brief a legal case. It explains that a case brief is a condensed summary of a court opinion that includes the facts, issue, holding, and application of the law to the facts. It provides examples of basic and more detailed case brief formats. The document concludes by summarizing a sample case brief for Mapp v. Ohio to demonstrate what a finished brief looks like.
The document provides guidance on writing legal briefs that summarize case law. It outlines the typical components of a brief, including the case citation, facts, procedure, issues, holding, and reasoning. For example, the facts section should outline only the key factual details necessary to understand how the law applies to the case. The issues section should pose questions that can be answered yes or no. The holding then answers the issues, and the reasoning explains the court's analysis.
This document provides an overview of searching case law, statutes, and secondary sources on WestlawNext. It discusses how to search using natural language or Boolean operators, filter search results, analyze whether cases are still good law, and utilize the West Key Number System to efficiently research topics. The document also demonstrates how to browse statutes, find related cases that have cited or applied a key case, and determine the negative treatment of cases to assess if they remain valid law.
The document provides an overview of the US legal system, including how laws are made at the federal and state levels and how the courts enforce and interpret statutes. It discusses the roles of Congress, state legislatures, and the courts. It also summarizes the different levels and types of courts in the federal and state systems, and outlines the typical stages of civil lawsuits from initiation to appeals.
This document provides an overview of plea bargaining negotiation, including the roles of prosecutors and defense attorneys. It discusses the history and prevalence of plea bargaining in the U.S. criminal justice system. Prosecutors have significant discretion but also duties of justice, while defense attorneys must provide effective counsel to clients during negotiations. The document recommends defense attorneys understand the various forces at play and utilize negotiation techniques to obtain the best deals possible for their clients.
The doctrine of stare decisis is best explained by reference to the English translation of the Latin phrase. "Stare decisis" literally translates as "to stand by decided matters". The phrase "stare decisis" is itself an abbreviation of the Latin phrase "stare decisis et non quieta movere" which translates as "to stand by decisions and not to disturb settled matters".
Motion for summary judgment can put an end to a lawsuit, for better or worse (1)Kingston Law Group
https://kingstonlawgroup.com/motion-for-summary-judgment/
If one or both sides file motions for summary judgment, a judge, looking at the facts, may feel there’s no point in going forward to trial and will issue a decision in favor of one of the parties.
This document provides instructions for how to brief a legal case. It explains that a case brief is a condensed summary of a court opinion that includes the facts, issue, holding, and application of the law to the facts. It provides examples of basic and more detailed case brief formats. The document concludes by summarizing a sample case brief for Mapp v. Ohio to demonstrate what a finished brief looks like.
The document provides guidance on writing legal briefs that summarize case law. It outlines the typical components of a brief, including the case citation, facts, procedure, issues, holding, and reasoning. For example, the facts section should outline only the key factual details necessary to understand how the law applies to the case. The issues section should pose questions that can be answered yes or no. The holding then answers the issues, and the reasoning explains the court's analysis.
This document provides an overview of searching case law, statutes, and secondary sources on WestlawNext. It discusses how to search using natural language or Boolean operators, filter search results, analyze whether cases are still good law, and utilize the West Key Number System to efficiently research topics. The document also demonstrates how to browse statutes, find related cases that have cited or applied a key case, and determine the negative treatment of cases to assess if they remain valid law.
The document provides an overview of the US legal system, including how laws are made at the federal and state levels and how the courts enforce and interpret statutes. It discusses the roles of Congress, state legislatures, and the courts. It also summarizes the different levels and types of courts in the federal and state systems, and outlines the typical stages of civil lawsuits from initiation to appeals.
This document provides an overview of plea bargaining negotiation, including the roles of prosecutors and defense attorneys. It discusses the history and prevalence of plea bargaining in the U.S. criminal justice system. Prosecutors have significant discretion but also duties of justice, while defense attorneys must provide effective counsel to clients during negotiations. The document recommends defense attorneys understand the various forces at play and utilize negotiation techniques to obtain the best deals possible for their clients.
The doctrine of stare decisis is best explained by reference to the English translation of the Latin phrase. "Stare decisis" literally translates as "to stand by decided matters". The phrase "stare decisis" is itself an abbreviation of the Latin phrase "stare decisis et non quieta movere" which translates as "to stand by decisions and not to disturb settled matters".
Motion for summary judgment can put an end to a lawsuit, for better or worse (1)Kingston Law Group
https://kingstonlawgroup.com/motion-for-summary-judgment/
If one or both sides file motions for summary judgment, a judge, looking at the facts, may feel there’s no point in going forward to trial and will issue a decision in favor of one of the parties.
The document discusses key Latin terms related to the doctrine of precedent in common law legal systems. It defines stare decisis as the Greek maxim that courts should stand by precedents and treat similar cases similarly. It also explains that ratio decidendi refers to the reason for a court's decision and is binding, while obiter dicta involves hypothetical situations discussed in a ruling but are not binding. Courts are bound to follow precedents set by higher courts or courts of equal status.
The document discusses the legal doctrine of precedent, also known as stare decisis. It provides three key points:
1) Precedent, or stare decisis, means that a point of law settled by a previous judicial decision should be followed in subsequent similar cases. The earlier case that is directly on point must be followed.
2) When making decisions, judges consider how the decision coheres with existing legal principles and authorities, as well as the broader consequences.
3) Critics argue that deconstructing legal reasoning can reveal its emptiness, but legal reasoning aims to present relevant features of prior cases rather than function as a scientific demonstration.
The document discusses the Australian legal system, including the main sources of law and the role of courts. It focuses on case law (common law) and how precedent is developed through judicial decisions. A key case discussed is Donoghue v Stevenson, which established the neighbour principle of duty of care in tort law. The summary establishes that case law is developed through judicial precedent where higher courts can overrule and distinguish previous decisions of lower courts to develop legal principles over time.
The document discusses different approaches to determining the ratio decidendi, or binding legal principle, of a case with multiple or conflicting judgments. It examines the Golaknath case decided by the Indian Supreme Court as an example where five separate judgments were issued. Three main approaches are described: 1) examining the necessary reasoning to support the court's declaration, 2) counting the number of judges supporting each proposition, and 3) identifying the majority view among the majority opinions. The document concludes that pragmatically construing precedents by their rationes, or underlying reasons, is preferable to a rigid analysis.
This document discusses how the U.S. Supreme Court's conceptions of stare decisis, or adherence to precedent, influence social change. It argues that some claim the Rehnquist Court used an unprincipled theory of stare decisis to achieve partisan objectives. However, the author concludes that while the Court's jurisprudence shifted rightward, its behavior in reversing precedents is normal and does not undermine the rule of law. The reversals occurred during times of natural instability and membership change on the Court.
Judicial Precedent And Prevention Of Contradictory Judgments: An Expository S...iosrjce
IOSR Journal of Humanities and Social Science is a double blind peer reviewed International Journal edited by International Organization of Scientific Research (IOSR).The Journal provides a common forum where all aspects of humanities and social sciences are presented. IOSR-JHSS publishes original papers, review papers, conceptual framework, analytical and simulation models, case studies, empirical research, technical notes etc.
Mori_ Writing sample 1_ Research paper legal argumentationMartina Mori
This document provides a summary and analysis of attorney Seth Waxman's arguments in Boumediene v. Bush, a Supreme Court case regarding whether Guantanamo Bay detainees had habeas corpus rights. Waxman sought to overturn lower court rulings denying those rights. The document analyzes how Waxman justified his interpretations of habeas corpus using argumentation patterns to refute the lower court decision and gain the Supreme Court's agreement. It finds Waxman sought to anticipate and address the justices' critical views based on their legal philosophies to make his arguments more reasonable and acceptable from their perspective.
The document summarizes key aspects of the pretrial process in criminal cases, including:
1) Summary trials for minor offenses where a jury is not required if incarceration is less than 6 months. Defendants often plead guilty without counsel.
2) Elaborate pretrial procedures for felonies including initial appearance, grand jury, preliminary hearing, and arraignment where a plea is entered.
3) Most cases are resolved pretrial, with about 25% resulting in convictions as cases attrite through the system.
The document discusses different approaches to determining the ratio decidendi, or binding legal principle, of a case with multiple judgments. It analyzes the Indian Supreme Court case Golak Nath v. State of Punjab, which had five separate judgments. Three approaches are examined: 1) identifying the propositions necessary for the decision, 2) counting the number of judges supporting each proposition, and 3) using the reasons of the majority of the majority. The document concludes that the third approach limits the ratio of Golak Nath to the single majority judgment delivered by the Chief Justice, with one other Justice concurring.
This document discusses legal translation and the challenges involved. It defines legal translation as any document used within the legal system, such as contracts, certificates, wills, and court documents. Legal translation requires expertise in legal terminology and practices of both the source and target legal systems. Challenges include polysemy, redundancy, capitalization conventions, use of "shall", Latin terms, and linking words. Translating the intended meaning while avoiding deviation from the original content requires detective work and research by the legal translator. The document provides examples of Latin terms, capitalization, linking words, and legalese to illustrate these challenges.
Using Comparative Foreign Law In Constitutional And Other Adjudications By Na...guestc2745c
This document discusses a US Supreme Court case, Roper v. Simmons, regarding whether imposing the death penalty on juvenile offenders between the ages of 15-18 is constitutional. The author argues that referencing foreign law in this case was proper to help resolve uncertainties in US law. While some argue foreign law references undermine national sovereignty or risk biased selection, the author believes considering relevant experiences from other countries can help clarify legal doubts, especially on universal issues like prohibiting juvenile death penalty. Foreign law is not binding but can provide useful context when national laws are unclear.
Amicus Curiae Briefs (3d Cir, PA) April 2014Donna Doblick
The document provides an overview of the essential rules governing amicus curiae briefs in the appellate courts of Pennsylvania and the U.S. Courts of Appeals, including the Third Circuit. It notes that in the federal courts, an amicus generally needs the court's permission to file a brief, while in Pennsylvania courts an amicus has a presumptive right to file without permission. It also outlines timing requirements, length limits, disclosure obligations, and other key considerations for amicus briefs in these jurisdictions.
How To Brief a Case Confusion often arises over the term le.docxwellesleyterresa
How To Brief a Case
Confusion often arises over the term “legal brief.” There are at least two different senses in which the term is
used.
Appellate brief
An appellate brief is a written legal argument presented to an appellate court. Its purpose is to persuade the
higher court to uphold or reverse the trial court’s decision. Briefs of this kind are therefore geared to presenting
the issues involved in the case from the perspective of one side only.
Appellate briefs from both sides can be very valuable to anyone assessing the legal issues raised in a case.
Unfortunately, they are rarely published. The U.S. Supreme Court is the only court for which briefs are
regularly available in published form. The Landmark Briefs series (REF. LAW KF 101.9 .K8) includes the
full texts of briefs relating to a very few of the many cases heard by this court. In addition, summaries of the
briefs filed on behalf of the plaintiff or defendant for all cases reported are included in the U.S. Supreme Court
Reports. Lawyer’s Ed., 2nd. series (REF. LAW KF 101 .A42).
Student brief
A student brief is a short summary and analysis of the case prepared for use in classroom discussion. It is a set
of notes, presented in a systematic way, in order to sort out the parties, identify the issues, ascertain what was
decided, and analyze the reasoning behind decisions made by the courts.
Although student briefs always include the same items of information, the form in which these items are set out
can vary. Before committing yourself to a particular form for briefing cases, check with your instructor to
ensure that the form you have chosen is acceptable.
THE PARTIES AND HOW TO KEEP TRACK OF THEM
Beginning students often have difficulty identifying relationships between the parties involved in court cases.
The following definitions may help:
Plaintiffs sue defendants in civil suits in trial courts.
The government (state or federal) prosecutes defendants in criminal cases in trial courts.
The losing party in a criminal prosecution or a civil action may ask a higher (appellate) court to review the case
on the ground that the trial court judge made a mistake. If the law gives the loser the right to a higher court
review, his or her lawyers will appeal. If the loser does not have this right, his or her lawyers may ask the court
for a writ of certiorari. Under this procedure, the appellate court is being asked to exercise its lawful discretion
in granting the cases a hearing for review.
For example, a defendant convicted in a federal district court has the right to appeal this decision in the Court of
Appeals of the circuit and this court cannot refuse to hear it. The party losing in this appellate court can request
that the case be reviewed by the Supreme Court, but, unless certain special circumstances apply, has no right to
a hearing.
These two procedures, appeals and petitions for certiorari, are sometimes loosely grouped togeth ...
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InstructionsIntegral to this course will be the ability to read,.docxJeniceStuckeyoo
Instructions
Integral to this course will be the ability to read, understand, brief, and discuss the cases of the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS). The following information, "How to Brief Case Law,” discusses how to master these tasks. This information will be referenced and used throughout the course, including in the unit assessments.
The official site of the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is a useful and beneficial tool. Some cases even provide the ability to listen to the oral arguments. This site could be used to supplement any additional information the student might need.
Note: There are numerous sites on the internet that provide case briefs. If any student case briefs are copied, there will be an automatic score of zero for the respective unit.
How to Brief Case Law
A court uses the following components in case law. You should use these components when you brief, or summarize, case law. Each component is detailed below:
1) Proper and full legal citation
2) Procedural history
3) Facts
4) Issue(s)
5) Holding, including vote
6) Rule(s) of law, Legal principle that was used/created
7) Rationale reasoning/analysis use by court
8) Significance—What do we have now, that we did not have before this case?
Case Brief Explanation
Proper and full legal citation
List the title of the case and the case’s legal reference according to APA standards.
Example:
Miranda v. Arizona
, 384 U.S. 436 (1966)
Procedural history
Typically, there is a section that covers the judicial history, that is a very short summary of what happened at each preceding stage: trial court of XX found the defendant guilty (as described in the “Facts” section), (party name) appealed based upon (specify legal issue), and the appellate court affirmed or reversed, it was then appealed to the (State) Supreme Court which reversed or affirmed, and based upon the Constitutional issues of 1,2,3, (these are enumerated in the “issues” section) the case was appealed to the (name the federal court), that affirmed or reversed, and then (party name) appealed to the USSC on the grounds of (very specific constitutional grounds); the court granted certiorari (agreed to hear the case on this specific basis).
Facts of the case
Facts of the case should be the ABSOLUTE fewest words possible to convey the legally relevant issues. No details are needed unless they are specifically related to the particular legal challenge bringing us to the United States Supreme Court (USSC). It takes discipline and practice to keep this to a few lines while still capturing the essentials. This section ends with a conviction and provides a segue to the next section.
Issues
Issues are answered using yes or no question(s) that identify the larger constitutional question that will be considered by the USSC and is typically quite specific in terms of a legal issue, but not necessarily specific to the set of facts in this case. It is possible that a sing.
A COMPREHENSIVE BRIEF / TUTORIALOUTLET DOT COMalbert0081
This document provides guidance on writing a comprehensive legal brief, including the key elements that should be included. It explains that a brief should include: 1) the title and citation of the case, 2) a summary of the pertinent facts, 3) the legal issues raised, 4) the court's decisions, 5) the court's reasoning, 6) any separate or dissenting opinions, and 7) a historical analysis. For each section, it provides details on what types of information should be included. It emphasizes the importance of properly framing the legal issues and understanding the court's reasoning.
1 How to B rief a Case Prepared for the L egTatianaMajor22
1
How to B rief a Case
Prepared for the L egal Studies Program
Amer ican Public University System
December 2013
Introduction: A case brief is a concise summary of the significance of a case. It is a bit
like but with very special rules! It is a time-honored practice used throughout
the legal profession and law schools. As a teaching tool, the case brief forces the student to
identify and provide a written description of the most important aspects of a case. Legal
precedent, also known as Stare Decisis, is a doctrine which governs much of our legal process.
and the
rationale underlying it ---- that is, how the judges arrived at their decision ---- is essential to
the study of law. The case brief serves as a very useful vehicle by means of which to analyze
and understand judicial decisions.
A case brie
aspects of a case. A case brief is not an invitation to re-write the opinion or to paste together
ed on your
understanding of the case. Of cour words can be useful, if used
sparingly. A case brief should be concise; it should be no more than 1-2 pages. There are at least
several different methods or models for writing the case brief; these are based on personal
preferences. In the Legal Studies Program, however, the format described here will be used for
all of the case briefs which you are required to write in your courses. By using this uniform
format, you will gain familiarity with the case analysis and brief writing process.
opinion, rather than a mere summary. Therefore, the first step in the brief writing process is
always to thoroughly read the entire case. This includes reading any concurring and dissenting
opinions of members of the court. In this regard, be very sure that you are reading the entire
opinion! In some internet based sources, the Syllabus (headnotes/summary) of the opinion is
presented at one link, the majority opinion is presented at another link, etc. You need to read all
portions of the opinion as all of them are relevant to your analysis of the case. For example, if
there are strong dissenting opinions based on key legal points, this could predict what the court
might decide in the future on similar issues.
1. Case Name and C itation: As a header on the first page of your brief, you should state
citation to the case. (See Bluebook resources in the APUS library for more information about
Bluebook format.) It is essential that the reader of your case brief know who initiated the
litigation and who appealed. For example, in the sample case brief of the Delahanty case (see
accompanying materials), Thomas and Jean Delahanty are clearly identified as the plaintiffs
(parties who initiated the litigation) and as appellants (parties who sought appellate review of the
2
legal reporter in which the opinion is found, the volume and page on which the case appears, and
the year in which the case was decided.
2. Facts ...
1 How to B rief a Case Prepared for the L eg.docxAbhinav816839
The document provides instructions for writing a case brief, which is a concise summary of a legal case. It explains that a case brief should include: 1) the case name and citation, 2) the facts, 3) the procedural history, 4) the issue(s) before the court, 5) the court's holding on each issue, 6) the court's reasoning, 7) the decision, and 8) any additional comments. The document provides an example case brief analyzing whether gun manufacturers can be held strictly liable for injuries from criminal use of their guns.
BBA 3210, Business Law 1 Course Learning Outcomes for.docxaryan532920
BBA 3210, Business Law 1
Course Learning Outcomes for Unit I
Upon completion of this unit, students should be able to:
4. Demonstrate research skills using all modalities available for legal issues.
4.1 Identify the various forms of alternative dispute resolution (ADR).
Reading Assignment
Chapter 1:
An Introduction to the Fundamentals of Dynamic Business Law
Chapter 3:
The U.S. Legal System and Alternative Dispute Resolution
Unit Lesson
Introduction to Business Law
Law—a brief definition: Business law is defined law as “the enforceable rules of conduct that govern the
actions of buyers and sellers in market exchanges” (Kubasek, Browne, Herron, Dhooge, & Barkacs, 2016,
p. 3). Business law intersects with the six functional areas of business. These include corporate management,
production and transportation, marketing, research and development, accounting and finance, and human
resource management. These are the core activities in business, and the law plays a significant role in all
(Kubasek et al., 2016).
Law is dynamic, and in some senses, it is a living thing. This core concept requires understanding of the
origins of law. Law embodies fundamental rules of behavior and the institutions of defining, changing,
clarifying, refining, redefining, and applying these rules. It is the natural consequence of humans living and
working together. For an ordered society to exist, there has to be a way to resolve the inevitable disputes that
come up. Law can be seen as the activity of subjecting human conduct to the governance of rules. Business
law encompasses the rules of conduct for commercial relationships.
What are the roots of law? At some point in your upbringing, you learned the difference between right and
wrong. Your home life and the experiences you had in school, church, and/or in the larger community all
impacted your viewpoint on right and wrong.
One way to classify law is private versus public law. Private law is for resolution of disputes between private
individuals or groups, whereas public law addresses disputes between private individuals or groups and their
government. Both private and public law are significant for business law.
Another classification is civil versus criminal law. Civil law governs the rights and responsibilities either
between persons or between persons and their government. Criminal law is the body of laws that involves the
rights and responsibilities an individual has with respect to the public as a whole. A clear example of the
dichotomy was displayed in the O.J. Simpson trial—O.J. was found not guilty in his criminal case for the
murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman, but he was found to be legally responsible for their
deaths in his civil case.
UNIT I STUDY GUIDE
The Nature of Law, Judicial Process,
and Alternative Dispute Resolution
BBA 3210, Business Law 2
UNIT x STUDY GUIDE
Title
Law evolves. It predates reco ...
The document summarizes how to conduct legal research. It discusses primary and secondary legal sources, including cases, statutes, legal periodicals, and treatises. It explains how to read and brief a case, including identifying the key components of a judicial opinion like the facts, issues, holding, and reasoning. The document also discusses keeping current with changes to the law using resources like legal citations, Shepardizing cases, and online legal research.
The document discusses key Latin terms related to the doctrine of precedent in common law legal systems. It defines stare decisis as the Greek maxim that courts should stand by precedents and treat similar cases similarly. It also explains that ratio decidendi refers to the reason for a court's decision and is binding, while obiter dicta involves hypothetical situations discussed in a ruling but are not binding. Courts are bound to follow precedents set by higher courts or courts of equal status.
The document discusses the legal doctrine of precedent, also known as stare decisis. It provides three key points:
1) Precedent, or stare decisis, means that a point of law settled by a previous judicial decision should be followed in subsequent similar cases. The earlier case that is directly on point must be followed.
2) When making decisions, judges consider how the decision coheres with existing legal principles and authorities, as well as the broader consequences.
3) Critics argue that deconstructing legal reasoning can reveal its emptiness, but legal reasoning aims to present relevant features of prior cases rather than function as a scientific demonstration.
The document discusses the Australian legal system, including the main sources of law and the role of courts. It focuses on case law (common law) and how precedent is developed through judicial decisions. A key case discussed is Donoghue v Stevenson, which established the neighbour principle of duty of care in tort law. The summary establishes that case law is developed through judicial precedent where higher courts can overrule and distinguish previous decisions of lower courts to develop legal principles over time.
The document discusses different approaches to determining the ratio decidendi, or binding legal principle, of a case with multiple or conflicting judgments. It examines the Golaknath case decided by the Indian Supreme Court as an example where five separate judgments were issued. Three main approaches are described: 1) examining the necessary reasoning to support the court's declaration, 2) counting the number of judges supporting each proposition, and 3) identifying the majority view among the majority opinions. The document concludes that pragmatically construing precedents by their rationes, or underlying reasons, is preferable to a rigid analysis.
This document discusses how the U.S. Supreme Court's conceptions of stare decisis, or adherence to precedent, influence social change. It argues that some claim the Rehnquist Court used an unprincipled theory of stare decisis to achieve partisan objectives. However, the author concludes that while the Court's jurisprudence shifted rightward, its behavior in reversing precedents is normal and does not undermine the rule of law. The reversals occurred during times of natural instability and membership change on the Court.
Judicial Precedent And Prevention Of Contradictory Judgments: An Expository S...iosrjce
IOSR Journal of Humanities and Social Science is a double blind peer reviewed International Journal edited by International Organization of Scientific Research (IOSR).The Journal provides a common forum where all aspects of humanities and social sciences are presented. IOSR-JHSS publishes original papers, review papers, conceptual framework, analytical and simulation models, case studies, empirical research, technical notes etc.
Mori_ Writing sample 1_ Research paper legal argumentationMartina Mori
This document provides a summary and analysis of attorney Seth Waxman's arguments in Boumediene v. Bush, a Supreme Court case regarding whether Guantanamo Bay detainees had habeas corpus rights. Waxman sought to overturn lower court rulings denying those rights. The document analyzes how Waxman justified his interpretations of habeas corpus using argumentation patterns to refute the lower court decision and gain the Supreme Court's agreement. It finds Waxman sought to anticipate and address the justices' critical views based on their legal philosophies to make his arguments more reasonable and acceptable from their perspective.
The document summarizes key aspects of the pretrial process in criminal cases, including:
1) Summary trials for minor offenses where a jury is not required if incarceration is less than 6 months. Defendants often plead guilty without counsel.
2) Elaborate pretrial procedures for felonies including initial appearance, grand jury, preliminary hearing, and arraignment where a plea is entered.
3) Most cases are resolved pretrial, with about 25% resulting in convictions as cases attrite through the system.
The document discusses different approaches to determining the ratio decidendi, or binding legal principle, of a case with multiple judgments. It analyzes the Indian Supreme Court case Golak Nath v. State of Punjab, which had five separate judgments. Three approaches are examined: 1) identifying the propositions necessary for the decision, 2) counting the number of judges supporting each proposition, and 3) using the reasons of the majority of the majority. The document concludes that the third approach limits the ratio of Golak Nath to the single majority judgment delivered by the Chief Justice, with one other Justice concurring.
This document discusses legal translation and the challenges involved. It defines legal translation as any document used within the legal system, such as contracts, certificates, wills, and court documents. Legal translation requires expertise in legal terminology and practices of both the source and target legal systems. Challenges include polysemy, redundancy, capitalization conventions, use of "shall", Latin terms, and linking words. Translating the intended meaning while avoiding deviation from the original content requires detective work and research by the legal translator. The document provides examples of Latin terms, capitalization, linking words, and legalese to illustrate these challenges.
Using Comparative Foreign Law In Constitutional And Other Adjudications By Na...guestc2745c
This document discusses a US Supreme Court case, Roper v. Simmons, regarding whether imposing the death penalty on juvenile offenders between the ages of 15-18 is constitutional. The author argues that referencing foreign law in this case was proper to help resolve uncertainties in US law. While some argue foreign law references undermine national sovereignty or risk biased selection, the author believes considering relevant experiences from other countries can help clarify legal doubts, especially on universal issues like prohibiting juvenile death penalty. Foreign law is not binding but can provide useful context when national laws are unclear.
Amicus Curiae Briefs (3d Cir, PA) April 2014Donna Doblick
The document provides an overview of the essential rules governing amicus curiae briefs in the appellate courts of Pennsylvania and the U.S. Courts of Appeals, including the Third Circuit. It notes that in the federal courts, an amicus generally needs the court's permission to file a brief, while in Pennsylvania courts an amicus has a presumptive right to file without permission. It also outlines timing requirements, length limits, disclosure obligations, and other key considerations for amicus briefs in these jurisdictions.
How To Brief a Case Confusion often arises over the term le.docxwellesleyterresa
How To Brief a Case
Confusion often arises over the term “legal brief.” There are at least two different senses in which the term is
used.
Appellate brief
An appellate brief is a written legal argument presented to an appellate court. Its purpose is to persuade the
higher court to uphold or reverse the trial court’s decision. Briefs of this kind are therefore geared to presenting
the issues involved in the case from the perspective of one side only.
Appellate briefs from both sides can be very valuable to anyone assessing the legal issues raised in a case.
Unfortunately, they are rarely published. The U.S. Supreme Court is the only court for which briefs are
regularly available in published form. The Landmark Briefs series (REF. LAW KF 101.9 .K8) includes the
full texts of briefs relating to a very few of the many cases heard by this court. In addition, summaries of the
briefs filed on behalf of the plaintiff or defendant for all cases reported are included in the U.S. Supreme Court
Reports. Lawyer’s Ed., 2nd. series (REF. LAW KF 101 .A42).
Student brief
A student brief is a short summary and analysis of the case prepared for use in classroom discussion. It is a set
of notes, presented in a systematic way, in order to sort out the parties, identify the issues, ascertain what was
decided, and analyze the reasoning behind decisions made by the courts.
Although student briefs always include the same items of information, the form in which these items are set out
can vary. Before committing yourself to a particular form for briefing cases, check with your instructor to
ensure that the form you have chosen is acceptable.
THE PARTIES AND HOW TO KEEP TRACK OF THEM
Beginning students often have difficulty identifying relationships between the parties involved in court cases.
The following definitions may help:
Plaintiffs sue defendants in civil suits in trial courts.
The government (state or federal) prosecutes defendants in criminal cases in trial courts.
The losing party in a criminal prosecution or a civil action may ask a higher (appellate) court to review the case
on the ground that the trial court judge made a mistake. If the law gives the loser the right to a higher court
review, his or her lawyers will appeal. If the loser does not have this right, his or her lawyers may ask the court
for a writ of certiorari. Under this procedure, the appellate court is being asked to exercise its lawful discretion
in granting the cases a hearing for review.
For example, a defendant convicted in a federal district court has the right to appeal this decision in the Court of
Appeals of the circuit and this court cannot refuse to hear it. The party losing in this appellate court can request
that the case be reviewed by the Supreme Court, but, unless certain special circumstances apply, has no right to
a hearing.
These two procedures, appeals and petitions for certiorari, are sometimes loosely grouped togeth ...
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InstructionsIntegral to this course will be the ability to read,.docxJeniceStuckeyoo
Instructions
Integral to this course will be the ability to read, understand, brief, and discuss the cases of the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS). The following information, "How to Brief Case Law,” discusses how to master these tasks. This information will be referenced and used throughout the course, including in the unit assessments.
The official site of the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is a useful and beneficial tool. Some cases even provide the ability to listen to the oral arguments. This site could be used to supplement any additional information the student might need.
Note: There are numerous sites on the internet that provide case briefs. If any student case briefs are copied, there will be an automatic score of zero for the respective unit.
How to Brief Case Law
A court uses the following components in case law. You should use these components when you brief, or summarize, case law. Each component is detailed below:
1) Proper and full legal citation
2) Procedural history
3) Facts
4) Issue(s)
5) Holding, including vote
6) Rule(s) of law, Legal principle that was used/created
7) Rationale reasoning/analysis use by court
8) Significance—What do we have now, that we did not have before this case?
Case Brief Explanation
Proper and full legal citation
List the title of the case and the case’s legal reference according to APA standards.
Example:
Miranda v. Arizona
, 384 U.S. 436 (1966)
Procedural history
Typically, there is a section that covers the judicial history, that is a very short summary of what happened at each preceding stage: trial court of XX found the defendant guilty (as described in the “Facts” section), (party name) appealed based upon (specify legal issue), and the appellate court affirmed or reversed, it was then appealed to the (State) Supreme Court which reversed or affirmed, and based upon the Constitutional issues of 1,2,3, (these are enumerated in the “issues” section) the case was appealed to the (name the federal court), that affirmed or reversed, and then (party name) appealed to the USSC on the grounds of (very specific constitutional grounds); the court granted certiorari (agreed to hear the case on this specific basis).
Facts of the case
Facts of the case should be the ABSOLUTE fewest words possible to convey the legally relevant issues. No details are needed unless they are specifically related to the particular legal challenge bringing us to the United States Supreme Court (USSC). It takes discipline and practice to keep this to a few lines while still capturing the essentials. This section ends with a conviction and provides a segue to the next section.
Issues
Issues are answered using yes or no question(s) that identify the larger constitutional question that will be considered by the USSC and is typically quite specific in terms of a legal issue, but not necessarily specific to the set of facts in this case. It is possible that a sing.
A COMPREHENSIVE BRIEF / TUTORIALOUTLET DOT COMalbert0081
This document provides guidance on writing a comprehensive legal brief, including the key elements that should be included. It explains that a brief should include: 1) the title and citation of the case, 2) a summary of the pertinent facts, 3) the legal issues raised, 4) the court's decisions, 5) the court's reasoning, 6) any separate or dissenting opinions, and 7) a historical analysis. For each section, it provides details on what types of information should be included. It emphasizes the importance of properly framing the legal issues and understanding the court's reasoning.
1 How to B rief a Case Prepared for the L egTatianaMajor22
1
How to B rief a Case
Prepared for the L egal Studies Program
Amer ican Public University System
December 2013
Introduction: A case brief is a concise summary of the significance of a case. It is a bit
like but with very special rules! It is a time-honored practice used throughout
the legal profession and law schools. As a teaching tool, the case brief forces the student to
identify and provide a written description of the most important aspects of a case. Legal
precedent, also known as Stare Decisis, is a doctrine which governs much of our legal process.
and the
rationale underlying it ---- that is, how the judges arrived at their decision ---- is essential to
the study of law. The case brief serves as a very useful vehicle by means of which to analyze
and understand judicial decisions.
A case brie
aspects of a case. A case brief is not an invitation to re-write the opinion or to paste together
ed on your
understanding of the case. Of cour words can be useful, if used
sparingly. A case brief should be concise; it should be no more than 1-2 pages. There are at least
several different methods or models for writing the case brief; these are based on personal
preferences. In the Legal Studies Program, however, the format described here will be used for
all of the case briefs which you are required to write in your courses. By using this uniform
format, you will gain familiarity with the case analysis and brief writing process.
opinion, rather than a mere summary. Therefore, the first step in the brief writing process is
always to thoroughly read the entire case. This includes reading any concurring and dissenting
opinions of members of the court. In this regard, be very sure that you are reading the entire
opinion! In some internet based sources, the Syllabus (headnotes/summary) of the opinion is
presented at one link, the majority opinion is presented at another link, etc. You need to read all
portions of the opinion as all of them are relevant to your analysis of the case. For example, if
there are strong dissenting opinions based on key legal points, this could predict what the court
might decide in the future on similar issues.
1. Case Name and C itation: As a header on the first page of your brief, you should state
citation to the case. (See Bluebook resources in the APUS library for more information about
Bluebook format.) It is essential that the reader of your case brief know who initiated the
litigation and who appealed. For example, in the sample case brief of the Delahanty case (see
accompanying materials), Thomas and Jean Delahanty are clearly identified as the plaintiffs
(parties who initiated the litigation) and as appellants (parties who sought appellate review of the
2
legal reporter in which the opinion is found, the volume and page on which the case appears, and
the year in which the case was decided.
2. Facts ...
1 How to B rief a Case Prepared for the L eg.docxAbhinav816839
The document provides instructions for writing a case brief, which is a concise summary of a legal case. It explains that a case brief should include: 1) the case name and citation, 2) the facts, 3) the procedural history, 4) the issue(s) before the court, 5) the court's holding on each issue, 6) the court's reasoning, 7) the decision, and 8) any additional comments. The document provides an example case brief analyzing whether gun manufacturers can be held strictly liable for injuries from criminal use of their guns.
BBA 3210, Business Law 1 Course Learning Outcomes for.docxaryan532920
BBA 3210, Business Law 1
Course Learning Outcomes for Unit I
Upon completion of this unit, students should be able to:
4. Demonstrate research skills using all modalities available for legal issues.
4.1 Identify the various forms of alternative dispute resolution (ADR).
Reading Assignment
Chapter 1:
An Introduction to the Fundamentals of Dynamic Business Law
Chapter 3:
The U.S. Legal System and Alternative Dispute Resolution
Unit Lesson
Introduction to Business Law
Law—a brief definition: Business law is defined law as “the enforceable rules of conduct that govern the
actions of buyers and sellers in market exchanges” (Kubasek, Browne, Herron, Dhooge, & Barkacs, 2016,
p. 3). Business law intersects with the six functional areas of business. These include corporate management,
production and transportation, marketing, research and development, accounting and finance, and human
resource management. These are the core activities in business, and the law plays a significant role in all
(Kubasek et al., 2016).
Law is dynamic, and in some senses, it is a living thing. This core concept requires understanding of the
origins of law. Law embodies fundamental rules of behavior and the institutions of defining, changing,
clarifying, refining, redefining, and applying these rules. It is the natural consequence of humans living and
working together. For an ordered society to exist, there has to be a way to resolve the inevitable disputes that
come up. Law can be seen as the activity of subjecting human conduct to the governance of rules. Business
law encompasses the rules of conduct for commercial relationships.
What are the roots of law? At some point in your upbringing, you learned the difference between right and
wrong. Your home life and the experiences you had in school, church, and/or in the larger community all
impacted your viewpoint on right and wrong.
One way to classify law is private versus public law. Private law is for resolution of disputes between private
individuals or groups, whereas public law addresses disputes between private individuals or groups and their
government. Both private and public law are significant for business law.
Another classification is civil versus criminal law. Civil law governs the rights and responsibilities either
between persons or between persons and their government. Criminal law is the body of laws that involves the
rights and responsibilities an individual has with respect to the public as a whole. A clear example of the
dichotomy was displayed in the O.J. Simpson trial—O.J. was found not guilty in his criminal case for the
murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman, but he was found to be legally responsible for their
deaths in his civil case.
UNIT I STUDY GUIDE
The Nature of Law, Judicial Process,
and Alternative Dispute Resolution
BBA 3210, Business Law 2
UNIT x STUDY GUIDE
Title
Law evolves. It predates reco ...
The document summarizes how to conduct legal research. It discusses primary and secondary legal sources, including cases, statutes, legal periodicals, and treatises. It explains how to read and brief a case, including identifying the key components of a judicial opinion like the facts, issues, holding, and reasoning. The document also discusses keeping current with changes to the law using resources like legal citations, Shepardizing cases, and online legal research.
This article analyzes and critiques a Harvard Law Review article by Professor Akhil Amar that discusses the Supreme Court case Texas v. Johnson, which ruled that burning the American flag is protected free speech. The author argues that most constitutional law scholarship, including Amar's article, is actually advocacy disguised as scholarship. The goal of scholarship should be seeking truth, but modern legal scholarship often aims to justify political judgments rather than engage in objective analysis. By examining Amar's discussion of Texas v. Johnson through the lens of a "person sitting in darkness" unfamiliar with legal concepts, the author aims to shed light on how legal education can obscure important truths about the relationship between law, politics, and normative judgments.
Instructions Every lawyer briefs cases differently. A case brief g.docxdoylymaura
Instructions
Every lawyer briefs cases differently. A case brief generally consists of a series of topic headings with the specific information from the case under each heading. Most case briefs contain similar information but the headings and their sequence may be different. Some professors have a preferred briefing format. You are only required to follow the general format as set forth below.
The following is adapted from
A Practical Guide to Legal Writing and Legal Method
(Dernbach, et al., 2007).
Case name
: Include the full citation, including the date of the opinion, for future reference and citation. An example would be as follows:
State v. Holloran
, 140 NH 563 (1995). Refer to Bluebook to determine the correct name for the case.
Pincites
: Include pinpoint cites (cites to a particular page in the case) throughout the case brief so you can find material again quickly within a case.
Procedural History
: What happened to the case before it arrived in this court? If it is an appellate case, list the decisions made by the lower court(s) and note what decision is being reviewed (e.g., jury verdict, summary judgment). You may need to look up procedural phrases with which you are unfamiliar.
Facts
: Include only the facts that were relevant to the court’s decision. You are unlikely to know what these are until you have read the entire opinion. Many cases may include procedural facts that are relevant to the decision in addition to the facts that happened before litigation.
Issue
: The particular question the court had to decide in this case. It usually includes specific facts as well as a legal question. It may be expressed or implied in the decision. Cases may have more than one issue.
Holding/Decision
: The legal answer to the issue. If the issue is clearly written, then the holding can be expressed as “yes” or “no.” (Be careful not to confuse the holding with implicit
reasoning
. See # 8 below.)
Rule
: The general legal principle(s) relevant to the particular factual situation presented in the case.
Reasoning
: The logical steps the court takes to arrive at the holding. It can be straightforward and obvious, or you may have to extrapolate it from the holding. Some reasoning is based on social policy, which tells you why the holding is socially desirable. Understanding the reasoning behind a decision is essential.
Disposition
: A statement of what the court actually did in the case (affirmed, overruled, etc.)
Dissent/Concurrence
: Although this part of the opinion is not considered law, it may help you better understand some information about the legal reasoning in the case. Not all cases have a dissent or concurrence, while some may have more than one.
11.
Comments
: Include your own responses to the case here. For example, does the reasoning make sense? Is the holding consistent with other cases you have read? Is the case relevant to the question you are trying to answer? This is a good place to note connections between.
HowtoBriefaCase A case brief is a written summary.docxpooleavelina
How to Brief a Case
A case brief is a written summary of a decided case. Each professor and lawyer has
their own format for briefing a case. A case brief will focus on the main issue(s) of the
case and is a valuable tool when conducting legal research. Not only does the act of
briefing a case help you to isolate the issue, it can clarify the facts that were instrumental
in coming to the conclusion that the Judges or Justices did. When asked to prepare a
brief for someone, it is a good idea to ask for a sample first to make sure you comply with
their format requirements. It is also vital for you to obtain a copy of the actual case. What
is in your textbook is usually a very abbreviated version of the case, which may or may
not even contain all of the issues decided in that case.
For the purposes of this class, you will use the following format:
Citation: The citation is the name, reporter and date the case was decided. It is also a
good idea to list the actual court if it is not apparent from the citation. For example:
Marbury v. Madison 5 US 137 (1803).
Facts: The facts section will only include the facts important to the actual holding in the
case. While you need to provide enough information so that the reader will know who is
doing what, you should exclude any matters which did not have an effect on the outcome
of the case. You do not want to copy of the facts straight from the case, it will be very
obvious and prevent your case brief from being “brief.”
You should make sure you know what the issue and reasoning is before you set down the
facts. You should indicate which party was the plaintiff and which was the defendant at
trial and refer to them by name throughout the brief. This is because at the appellate
level the winner will be called the appellee and the loser, the appellant. It gets confusing
if you continue to call them plaintiff and defendant or appellant and appellee.
Procedural History: The procedural history will indicate what happened in the trial level
(and appellate level if it made it to the Supreme Court). You should also indicate which
trial court the case came from. You would need to indicate what the causes of actions
were and how the court ruled on them. You will then indicate who brought the appeal
and why.
Issue: Unless the decision is very clear, this may be the most difficult part of the brief.
You need to indicate in question form, what the appellate court is being asked to decide.
If there is more than one question to be answered, you need to list them all.
Holding: This is the answer to the question(s). You will tell the conclusion of the appellate
court and what they have ordered: affirmed, reversed, or remanded.
Reasoning: This is the most important part of your brief. It is in this section that you
explain why the appellate court decided the way it did and include citations to any cases
they relied on in their decis ...
1 How to Brief a Case Prepared for the Legal S.docxhoney725342
1
How to Brief a Case
Prepared for the Legal Studies Program
American Public University System
December 2013
Introduction: A case brief is a concise summary of the significance of a case. It is a bit
like a “book report,” but with very special rules! It is a time-honored practice used throughout
the legal profession and law schools. As a teaching tool, the case brief forces the student to
identify and provide a written description of the most important aspects of a case. Legal
precedent, also known as Stare Decisis, is a doctrine which governs much of our legal process.
Under the doctrine, a prior court’s decision serves as “authority” for a subsequent court which
will address the same or similar issue. Therefore, understanding a court’s decision and the
rationale underlying it ---- that is, how the judges arrived at their decision ---- is essential to
the study of law. The case brief serves as a very useful vehicle by means of which to analyze
and understand judicial decisions.
A case brief is a tool by means of which to “capture” or outline the most important
aspects of a case. A case brief is not an invitation to re-write the opinion or to paste together
quotes from the court’s opinion. The brief should be written in your own words, based on your
understanding of the case. Of course, select quotes of the court’s words can be useful, if used
sparingly. A case brief should be concise; it should be no more than 1-2 pages. There are at least
several different methods or models for writing the case brief; these are based on personal
preferences. In the Legal Studies Program, however, the format described here will be used for
all of the case briefs which you are required to write in your courses. By using this uniform
format, you will gain familiarity with the case analysis and brief writing process.
Often, your textbooks will contain synopses of or abbreviated versions of courts’
opinions. When you want to understand a court’s decision, it is essential that you read the entire
opinion, rather than a mere summary. Therefore, the first step in the brief writing process is
always to thoroughly read the entire case. This includes reading any concurring and dissenting
opinions of members of the court. In this regard, be very sure that you are reading the entire
opinion! In some internet based sources, the Syllabus (headnotes/summary) of the opinion is
presented at one link, the majority opinion is presented at another link, etc. You need to read all
portions of the opinion as all of them are relevant to your analysis of the case. For example, if
there are strong dissenting opinions based on key legal points, this could predict what the court
might decide in the future on similar issues.
1. Case Name and Citation: As a header on the first page of your brief, you should state
the name of the case, identify each party’s role in the cas ...
Business Law I Introduction to LawHello class and welcome to t.docxRAHUL126667
Business Law I
Introduction to Law
Hello class and welcome to the week one lecture for Business Law I. We will begin with an introduction to the law and the American Legal system. Law is a grouping of rules governing relationships among individuals and between individuals and their society. The function of the law is to maintain stability while allowing for change when necessary. As we will discuss, this law originates from many sources.
To start, America has a rich common law tradition. Common law dates back to the English Court system. This common law developed through the slow accumulation of decisions over many hundreds of years. At bottom, judges generally apply the principle of Stare Decisis or the application of principles applied in earlier cases with similar facts. These earlier cases are known as precedent. This principle is important because it allows for a modicum of stability in the law as the idea is that similar cases will be decided in similar ways. However, this system allows gives the common law some flexibility. Judges may decide that old precedent is no longer applicable, for example, due to changes in society’s attitudes or in technology. When this situation occurs, the judge can create a new precedent.
The constitution provides another source of law. The federal constitution creates the rules for governing the country. It specifies which powers each branch of government may wield, and any state or federal law found to be in conflict with the constitution by the courts will be found to be invalid. A third source of law is statutory law. This source of law includes the statutes and ordinances of Congress and state legislatures. This is a very important source of law, and much of the work of the courts is consumed by interpreting these statutes.
The final source of law to discuss is the administrative law. The development of this law has become increasingly important. As the economy began to grow more complex, Congress devolved some of its powers to administrative agencies (generally under the supervision of the executive branch) to regulate the economy. For example, the Clean Air Act requires the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to keep the air safe. This mandate empowers the EPA to pass and enforce regulation protecting society from airborne pollutants. Although this area of law gets less coverage from the press, it can be critically important as these regulations have a monumental impact on the economy. Judges are frequently called upon to determine if the agencies have exceeded the scope of their mandate.
Another important distinction involves the relationship between the federal and state courts. Each state and the federal government has its own court system. And each of these entities will often have different statues, common law, administrative law, and constitutions. States are generally required to follow the decisions of other court’s due to the full faith and credit clause ...
The United States has a dual court system consisting of state courts and federal courts. The state court system includes appellate courts, trial courts of general and limited jurisdiction, and local courts. The federal court system includes the Supreme Court, courts of appeals, and district courts which hear both civil and criminal cases. Both systems have a hierarchical structure with different levels of courts and jurisdictions.
This summary provides an overview of the key points about jurisdiction from the document:
1. Jurisdiction refers to the power and authority of courts. There are two main types: subject matter jurisdiction, which is a court's power over certain types of cases, and personal jurisdiction, which is a court's power over individuals or property.
2. Personal jurisdiction can be established through residency, presence, or consent. States can also assert jurisdiction over out-of-state entities through minimum contacts.
3. Subject matter jurisdiction determines what kinds of cases a court can hear. Courts can have plenary or limited subject matter jurisdiction.
4. In the federal system, personal jurisdiction follows state rules, while
Is there Superior Court Jurisdiction in Property Tax Appeals to Binding Arbitration Under O.C.G.A. Section 48-5-311(f)?
by Jon M. Ripans, Esq., Appraiser, Arbitrator/Mediator Georgia County Property Tax Hearing Officer Expert Witness
This document discusses the importance of researching the law for criminal justice professionals. It outlines several types of legal sources, including popular literature, professional literature, scholarly journals, primary sources like statutes and constitutions, and secondary sources like legal encyclopedias and treatises. Key legal research tools like legal citations, case briefing, Shepardizing cases, and computerized legal research are also summarized.
15INTRODUCTION TO AMERICAN LEGAL SYSTEMINTRODUCTION.docxdrennanmicah
The document provides an introduction to the American legal system. It discusses that there are two basic court systems: federal and state. Each has its own set of laws and courts. When advising a client, a lawyer must determine which system's laws apply. The three primary sources of law are the constitution, statutes, and common law. Statutes are enacted by legislatures while common law develops from judicial decisions. The branches of government work together, with courts interpreting statutes and constitutional provisions. Prior court decisions (precedent) guide judicial interpretation through the principle of stare decisis. The document uses hypothetical scenarios on a fictional island to illustrate issues around defining law and interpreting statutes.
Scientific And Legal Perspectives On Science Generated For Regulatory Activitieslegalwebsite
This document provides an overview and summary of Silas Walter Adams' 1958 book "The Legalized Crime of Banking and a Constitutional Remedy". The book argues that the Federal Reserve System allows private banks to create money and control credit in an unconstitutional manner. It tells a story about how a farmer lost his life savings of $3,600 when a small town bank failed after the cashier took the money and fled. This sparked the author's 52-year study of banking practices and money creation. The book suggests reforms for Congress to transition money creation from private banks to the U.S. Treasury in a way that does not harm anyone's constitutional rights or disrupt the economy.
Rule Legal Services, General Counsel, And Miscellaneous Claims Service Organi...legalwebsite
Linguistic processing techniques like morphological analysis and use of ontologies can improve recall for document characterization in legal discovery by expanding search queries. Semantic analysis of documents and queries can improve precision of searches by returning only documents that precisely match the intended relationships between entities. Linguistic processing can also aid redaction of sensitive information by better detecting entities and relations. While more computationally intensive than keyword searches, these techniques can scale to large document collections through two-stage processing and creation of semantically indexed resources.
This document is a complaint filed by Oracle Corporation, Oracle USA, Inc., and Oracle International Corporation against SAP AG, SAP America, Inc., TomorrowNow, Inc., and unnamed defendants. The complaint alleges that SAP employees illegally accessed Oracle's password-protected customer support website and copied over 10,000 of Oracle's proprietary software products and support materials. It claims SAP used this stolen intellectual property to offer cut-rate support services and attempt to transition Oracle customers to SAP's software. The complaint contains 11 causes of action including violations of copyright and fraud laws, interference with business, unfair competition, conversion, and civil conspiracy. Oracle is seeking damages and injunctive relief.
Notice Grant And Cooperative Agreement Awards Civil Legal Services To Eligibl...legalwebsite
This document announces the Legal Services Corporation's (LSC) intention to award grants and contracts beginning January 1, 2008 to provide legal services to low-income clients. It lists the organizations that will receive funding and the amounts proposed for each grant. A total of $322 million is expected to be awarded among 121 grants to organizations serving all 50 states, 6 territories and the District of Columbia. Public comments on the awards are requested by December 19, 2007.
Libraries And Legal Research By Lance M Werner Libraries Andlegalwebsite
This document summarizes electronic resources for researching tax law as it relates to charitable nonprofits. It begins with broad resources like Google and FindLaw, then discusses narrower federal resources from the IRS website including forms, publications, and case law. Specific Michigan resources are also outlined, such as the Department of Treasury website containing state tax information for nonprofits. The document concludes that these free online resources provide a basic toolkit for nonprofit tax law research, and legal librarians can offer additional guidance.
Introduction To The Symposium On Legal Externships 2 Learning ...legalwebsite
This document introduces a symposium on legal externships that took place in 2003. It summarizes six papers presented at the symposium that were published in the Clinical Law Review. The papers address topics like ethics issues in externships, evaluating student professional development, training field supervisors and students, and embracing civic engagement in clinical programs. Externship programs have grown substantially and now exist at nearly every law school.
Introduction To The Symposium On Legal Externships 2 Learning ... 1legalwebsite
The document introduces a symposium on legal externships from a conference held in 2003. It summarizes six papers presented at the conference that examine various aspects of legal externships, including issues of ethics, student evaluation and mentoring, training for field supervisors and students, regulation of externship programs, the history of ABA standards for externships, and promoting civic engagement through externships. It also provides context on the growth of externships in legal education and resources for further information.
Information Inflation Can The Legal System Adaptlegalwebsite
This document discusses how information has undergone a massive increase or "inflation" in recent years due to technological advances like digitization, real-time computing, and the internet. This "information inflation" has stressed the legal system by making it nearly impossible for lawyers to search through and manage all available information, especially in litigation. The document suggests lawyers will need to change how they collaborate, use new search technologies, innovate rules around inadvertent disclosure, and embrace new approaches to managing information.
Court Of Appeals Upholds Gander Mountain Legal Victorylegalwebsite
The three judge panel unanimously upheld Gander Mountain's legal victory against their rival Cabela's. The original judgment granted Gander Mountain's motion for summary judgment, denied Cabela's motion, and dismissed Cabela's counterclaims. The ruling allows Gander Mountain to use its trademarks in direct marketing to consumers. Gander Mountain's CEO praised the decision that will allow them to grow direct business sales through catalogs and the internet.
This agreement is for the sale of a 999-year leasehold property from the vendor to the purchaser. The key terms are:
1) The vendor agrees to sell and assign the leasehold property to the purchaser for the remaining period of the lease in exchange for a price of [amount], with [amount] paid as earnest money and the balance to be paid upon completion.
2) The sale is to be completed within four months by the vendor executing a deed of assignment. Possession of the property will be delivered to the purchaser upon completion.
3) Either party has the right to cancel the agreement if the other party defaults in completing the sale within the stipulated period.
Adams The Legalized Crime Of Banking And A Constitutional Remedy (1958)legalwebsite
The document discusses beliefs regarding the individual income tax. It provides 30 statements of fact and belief covering topics such as:
1) The definition of income according to the US Supreme Court as gain derived from capital, labor, or both.
2) Labor being considered a form of property protected by the 13th Amendment.
3) Sections of the Internal Revenue Code used to determine gain from the sale of property and whether an individual would have gross income or taxable income in the absence of gain.
4) Employment taxes being separate from individual income taxes.
The document provides numerous citations to court cases and sections of the US Code to support its statements. It aims to establish that without gain or
Activating Legal Protections For Archaeological Remainslegalwebsite
This document discusses predictive risk factors for negative outcomes following abortion and the implications for screening and informed consent. It notes that while research on abortion's effects has limitations, it has reliably identified risk factors that predict higher risks of adverse reactions for some women. The failure to adequately screen for these known risk factors means women are not fully informed of risks specific to their situation and may experience avoidable negative consequences as a result. Improved screening could help reduce abortion rates among high-risk women and better serve women's health needs.
Abortion Decisions And The Duty To Screen Clinical, Ethical, And Legal Implic...legalwebsite
This document discusses lessons learned from a redevelopment project in Oakland, California that threatened the archaeological remains of one of the city's earliest Chinatowns. It outlines how community members had to actively work to ensure the developer met their legal obligations to protect potential archaeological resources under the California Environmental Quality Act. Some key lessons included the need for thorough archaeological studies using appropriate methods, oversight of the archaeological work, and long-term curation of any artifacts. The experience highlights the important role of communities in preserving historical and archaeological resources associated with Chinese American heritage sites.
537 Legal Questions About The Income Tax Codelegalwebsite
This document is an introduction to Silas Walter Adams' 1958 book "The Legalized Crime of Banking and a Constitutional Remedy". It provides background on the author and discusses some of the key topics that will be covered in the book, including:
- The high cost of World War II to taxpayers due to the Federal Reserve System, including $1.87 trillion spent to date with another $130 billion expected by 1980.
- If Congress had taken over money creation and people's deposits in 1933 instead of the Federal Reserve, World War II would have cost $250 billion, saving over $1.6 trillion.
- Annual costs of future wars due to bankers will be $32 billion, totaling
The Future Of Civil Legal Aid In The United Stateslegalwebsite
This document discusses the history and current state of civil legal aid in the United States. It outlines how legal aid began in the late 19th century and expanded in the 1960s through federal programs. While funding has increased overall, the system remains underfunded compared to other developed nations. The system now includes LSC-funded programs alongside many non-LSC state and local programs, as well as pro bono efforts. States are working to better integrate these resources into comprehensive statewide systems to improve access to justice. However, more funding is still needed to meet the legal needs of low-income Americans.
The Legal Rdf Ontology A Generic Model For Legal Documentslegalwebsite
1. The Legal-RDF ontology models the layout, content, and metadata of legal documents using directed acyclic graphs (DAGs).
2. Core classes include DAGNode and DAGModel, which represent nodes and models in a DAG. All classes derive from CoreResource, allowing Dublin Core metadata to be associated with any resource.
3. The ontology distinguishes between predicate verbs and nouns to provide an intuitive vocabulary for modeling statements. It categorizes classes based on elements of a dramatic production, such as actors, roles, and scenes.
Summary Of The Report Of The Senate Legal And Constitutionallegalwebsite
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A legal name change requires opening a court case in the family division of circuit court. The petitioner must be a Macomb County resident for at least one year prior to filing. The filing fee is $150. For a name change, individuals must complete the Petition to Change Name and Publication of Notice of Hearing forms and submit them to the Macomb County Clerk's Office along with the fee. Fingerprinting is required for those over 22 years old. The whole process takes approximately 2 months. Additional forms may be needed depending on the petitioner's age and circumstances. If approved by the judge, a certified copy of the name change order can then be obtained for $12.
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This presentation was provided by Racquel Jemison, Ph.D., Christina MacLaughlin, Ph.D., and Paulomi Majumder. Ph.D., all of the American Chemical Society, for the second session of NISO's 2024 Training Series "DEIA in the Scholarly Landscape." Session Two: 'Expanding Pathways to Publishing Careers,' was held June 13, 2024.
Beyond Degrees - Empowering the Workforce in the Context of Skills-First.pptxEduSkills OECD
Iván Bornacelly, Policy Analyst at the OECD Centre for Skills, OECD, presents at the webinar 'Tackling job market gaps with a skills-first approach' on 12 June 2024
🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥
إضغ بين إيديكم من أقوى الملازم التي صممتها
ملزمة تشريح الجهاز الهيكلي (نظري 3)
💀💀💀💀💀💀💀💀💀💀
تتميز هذهِ الملزمة بعِدة مُميزات :
1- مُترجمة ترجمة تُناسب جميع المستويات
2- تحتوي على 78 رسم توضيحي لكل كلمة موجودة بالملزمة (لكل كلمة !!!!)
#فهم_ماكو_درخ
3- دقة الكتابة والصور عالية جداً جداً جداً
4- هُنالك بعض المعلومات تم توضيحها بشكل تفصيلي جداً (تُعتبر لدى الطالب أو الطالبة بإنها معلومات مُبهمة ومع ذلك تم توضيح هذهِ المعلومات المُبهمة بشكل تفصيلي جداً
5- الملزمة تشرح نفسها ب نفسها بس تكلك تعال اقراني
6- تحتوي الملزمة في اول سلايد على خارطة تتضمن جميع تفرُعات معلومات الجهاز الهيكلي المذكورة في هذهِ الملزمة
واخيراً هذهِ الملزمة حلالٌ عليكم وإتمنى منكم إن تدعولي بالخير والصحة والعافية فقط
كل التوفيق زملائي وزميلاتي ، زميلكم محمد الذهبي 💊💊
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This presentation was provided by Rebecca Benner, Ph.D., of the American Society of Anesthesiologists, for the second session of NISO's 2024 Training Series "DEIA in the Scholarly Landscape." Session Two: 'Expanding Pathways to Publishing Careers,' was held June 13, 2024.
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Elevate Your Nonprofit's Online Presence_ A Guide to Effective SEO Strategies...
How To Read A Legal Opinion
1. How to Read a Legal Opinion:
A Guide for New Law Students
(Summer 2007 Version * )
Professor Orin S. Kerr
George Washington University Law School
Washington, DC
This essay is designed to help new law students prepare for the first few weeks of class.
It explains what judicial opinions are, how they are structured, and what law students should
look for when reading them.
I. What’s In A Legal Opinion?
When two people disagree and that disagreement leads to a lawsuit, the lawsuit will
sometimes end with a ruling by a judge in favor of one side. The judge will explain the ruling in
a written document referred to as an “opinion.” The opinion explains what the case is about,
discusses the relevant legal principles, and then applies the law to the facts to reach a ruling in
favor of one side and against the other.
Modern judicial opinions reflect hundreds of years of history and practice. They usually
follow a simple and predictable formula. This section takes you through the basic formula. It
starts with the introductory materials at the top of an opinion and then moves on to the body of
the opinion.
The Caption: The first part of the case is the title of the case, known as the “caption.”
Examples include Brown v. Board of Education and Miranda v. Arizona. The caption usually
tells you the last names of the person who brought the lawsuit and the person who is being sued.
These two sides are often referred to as the “parties” or as the “litigants” in the case. For
example, if Ms. Smith sues Mr. Jones, the case caption may be Smith v. Jones (or, depending on
the court, Jones v. Smith).
In criminal law, cases are brought by government prosecutors on behalf of the
government itself. This means that the government is the named party. For example, if the
federal government charges John Doe with a crime, the case caption will be United States v.
Doe. If a state brings the charges instead, the caption will be State v. Doe, People v. Doe, or
Commonwealth v. Doe, depending on the practices of that state. 1
*
This essay is forthcoming in The Green Bag. The current version can be freely distributed for non-
commercial uses under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported license until its
publication. Upon its publication in The Green Bag, the license will transfer to the final published version. For the
terms of the license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/legalcode.
1
English criminal cases normally will be Rex v. Doe or Regina v. Doe. Rex and Regina aren’t the victims:
the words are Latin for “King” and “Queen.” During the reign of a King, English courts use “Rex”; during the reign
of a Queen, they switch to “Regina.”
2. The Case Citation: Below the case name you will find some letters and numbers. These
letters and numbers are the legal citation for the case. A citation tells you the name of the court
that decided the case, the law book in which the opinion was published, and the year in which
the court decided the case. For example, “U.S. Supreme Court, 485 U.S. 759 (1988)” refers to a
U.S. Supreme Court case decided in 1988 that appears in Volume 485 of the United States
Reports starting at page 759.
The Author of the Opinion: The next information is the name of the judge who wrote
the opinion. Most opinions assigned in law school were issued by courts with multiple judges.
The name tells you which judge wrote that particular opinion. In older cases, the opinion often
simply states a last name followed by the initial “J.” No, judges don’t all have the first initial
“J.” The letter stands for “Judge” or “Justice,” depending on the court. On occasion, the opinion
will use the Latin phrase “per curiam” instead of a judge’s name. Per curiam means “by the
court.” It signals that the opinion reflects a common view among all the judges rather than the
writings of a specific judge.
The Facts of the Case: Now let’s move on to the opinion itself. The first part of the
body of the opinion presents the facts of the case. In other words, what happened? The facts
might be that Andy pulled out a gun and shot Bob. Or maybe Fred agreed to give Sally $100 and
then changed his mind. Surprisingly, there are no particular rules for what facts a judge must
include in the fact section of an opinion. Sometimes the fact sections are long, and sometimes
they are short. Sometimes they are clear and accurate, and other times they are vague or
incomplete.
Most discussions of the facts also cover the “procedural history” of the case. The
procedural history explains how the legal dispute worked its way through the legal system to the
court that is issuing the opinion. It will include various motions, hearings, and trials that
occurred after the case was initially filed. Your civil procedure class is all about that kind of
stuff; you should pay very close attention to the procedural history of cases when you read
assignments for your civil procedure class. The procedural history of cases usually will be less
important when you read a case for your other classes.
The Law of the Case: After the opinion presents the facts, it will then discuss the law.
Many opinion present the law in two stages. The first stage discusses the general principles of
law that are relevant to cases such as the one the court is deciding. This section might explore the
history of a particular field of law or may include a discussion of past cases (known as
“precedents”) that are related to the case the court is deciding. This part of the opinion gives the
reader background to help understand the context and significance of the court’s decision. The
second stage of the legal section applies the general legal principles to the particular facts of the
dispute. As you might guess, this part is in many ways the heart of the opinion: It gets to the
bottom line of why the court is ruling for one side and against the other.
Concurring and/or Dissenting Opinions. Most of the opinions you read as a law
student are “majority” opinions. When a group of judges get together to decide a case, they vote
on which side should win and also try to agree on a legal rationale to explain why that side has
won. A majority opinion is an opinion joined by the majority of judges on that court. Although
most decisions are unanimous, some cases are not. Some judges may disagree and will write a
separate opinion offering a different approach. Those opinions are called “concurring opinions”
or “dissenting opinions,” and they appear after the majority opinion. A “concurring opinion”
(sometimes just called a “concurrence”) explains a vote in favor of the winning side but based on
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3. a different legal rationale. A “dissenting opinion” (sometimes just called a “dissent”) explains a
vote in favor of the losing side.
II. Common Legal Terms Found in Opinions
Now that you know what’s in a legal opinion, it’s time to learn some of the common
words you’ll find inside them. But first a history lesson, for reasons that should be clear in a
minute.
In 1066, William the Conqueror came across the English Channel from what is now
France and conquered the land that is today called England. The conquering Normans spoke
French and the defeated Saxons spoke Old English. The Normans took over the court system,
and their language became the language of the law. For several centuries after the French-
speaking Normans took over England, lawyers and judges in English courts spoke in French.
When English courts eventually returned to using English, they continued to use many French
words.
Why should you care about this ancient history? The American colonists considered
themselves Englishmen, so they used the English legal system and adopted its language. This
means that American legal opinions today are littered with weird French terms. Examples
include plaintiff, defendant, tort, contract, crime, judge, attorney, counsel, court, verdict, party,
appeal, evidence, and jury. These words are the everyday language of the American legal
system. And they’re all from the French, brought to you by William the Conqueror in 1066.
This means that when you read a legal opinion, you’ll come across a lot of foreign-
sounding words to describe the court system. You need to learn all of these words eventually;
you should read cases with a legal dictionary nearby and should look up every word you don’t
know. But this section will give you a head start by introducing you to some of the most
common words, many of which (but not all) are French in origin.
Types of Disputes and the Names of Participants: There are two basic kinds of legal
disputes: civil and criminal. In a civil case, one person files a lawsuit against another asking the
court to order the other side to pay him money or to do or stop doing something. An award of
money is called “damages” and an order to do something or to refrain from doing something is
called an “injunction.” The person bringing the lawsuit is known as the “plaintiff” and the
person sued is called the “defendant.”
In criminal cases, there is no plaintiff and no lawsuit. The role of a plaintiff is occupied
by a government prosecutor. Instead of filing a lawsuit (or equivalently, “suing” someone), the
prosecutor files criminal “charges.” Instead of asking for damages or an injunction, the
prosecutor asks the court to punish the individual through either jail time or a fine. The
government prosecutor is often referred to as “the state,” “the prosecution,” or simply “the
government.” The person charged is called the defendant, just like the person sued in a civil
case.
In legal disputes, each party ordinarily is represented by a lawyer. Legal opinions use
several different words for lawyers, including “attorney” and “counsel.” There are some
historical differences among these terms, but for the last century or so they have all meant the
same thing. When a lawyer addresses a judge in court, she will always address the judge as
“your honor,” just like lawyers do in the movies. In legal opinions, however, judges will usually
refer to themselves as “the Court.”
3
4. Terms in Appellate Litigation: Most opinions that you read in law school are appellate
opinions, which means that they decide the outcome of appeals. An “appeal” is a legal
proceeding that considers whether another court’s legal decision was right or wrong. After a
court has ruled for one side, the losing side may seek review of that decision by filing an appeal
before a higher court. The original court is usually known as the trial court, because that’s where
the trial occurs if there is one. The higher court is known as the appellate or appeals court, as it
is the court that hears the appeal.
A single judge presides over trial court proceedings, but appellate cases are decided by
panels of several judges. For example, in the federal court system, run by the United States
government, a single trial judge known as a District Court judge oversees the trial stage. Cases
can be appealed to the next higher court, the Court of Appeals, where cases are decided by
panels of three judges known as Circuit Court judges. A side that loses before the Circuit Court
can seek review of that decision at the United States Supreme Court. Supreme Court cases are
decided by all nine judges. Supreme Court judges are called Justices instead of judges; there is
one “Chief Justice” and the other eight are just plain “Justices” (technically they are “Associate
Justices,” but everyone just calls them “Justices.”)
During the proceedings before the higher court, the party that lost at the original court
and is therefore filing the appeal is usually known as the “appellant.” The party that won in the
lower court and must defend the lower court’s decision is known as the “appellee” (accent on
the last syllable). Some older opinions may refer to the appellant as the “plaintiff in error” and
the appellee as the “defendant in error.” Finally, some courts label an appeal as a “petition,” and
require the losing party to petition the higher court for relief. In these cases, the party that lost
before the lower court and is filing the petition for review is called the “petitioner.” The party
that won before the lower court and is responding to the petition in the higher court is called the
“respondent.”
Confused yet? You probably are, but don’t worry. You’ll read so many cases in the next
few weeks that you’ll get used to all of this very soon.
III. What You Need to Learn from Reading a Case
Okay, so you’ve just read a case for class. You think you understand it, but you’re not
sure if you learned what your professor wanted you to learn. Here is what professors want
students to know after reading a case assigned for class:
1) Know the facts. Law professors love the facts. When they call on students in class,
they typically begin by asking students to state the facts of a particular case. Facts are important
because law is often highly fact-sensitive, which is a fancy way of saying that the proper legal
outcome depends on the exact details of what happened. If you don’t know the facts, you can’t
really understand the case and can’t understand the law.
Most law students don’t appreciate the importance of the facts when they read a case.
Students think, “I’m in law school, not fact school; I want to know what the law is, not just what
happened in this one case.” But trust me: the facts are really important. 2
2
If you don’t believe me, you should take a look at a few law school exams. It turns out that the most
common form of law school exam question presents a long description of a very particular set of facts. It then asks
4
5. 2) Know the specific legal arguments made by the parties. Lawsuits are disputes, and
judges only issue opinions when two parties to a dispute disagree on a particular legal question.
This means that legal opinions focus on resolving the parties’ very specific disagreement. The
lawyers, not the judges, take the lead role in framing the issues raised by a case.
In an appeal, for example, the lawyer for the appellant will articulate specific ways in
which the lower court was wrong. The appellate court will then look at those arguments and
either agree or disagree. (Now you can understand why people pay big bucks for top lawyers;
the best lawyers are highly skilled at identifying and articulating their arguments to the court.)
Because the lawyers take the lead role in framing the issues, you need to understand exactly
what arguments the two sides were making.
3) Know the disposition. The “disposition” of a case is the action the court took. It is
often announced at the very end of the opinion. For example, an appeals court might “affirm” a
lower court decision, upholding it, or it might “reverse” the decision, ruling for the other side.
Alternatively, an appeals court might “vacate” the lower court decision, wiping the lower-court
decision off the books, and then “remand” the case, sending it back to the lower court for further
proceedings. For now, you should keep in mind that when a higher court “affirms” it means that
the lower court had it right (in result, if not in reasoning). Words like “reverse,” “remand,” and
“vacate” means that the higher court though the lower court had it wrong.
4) Understand the reasoning of the majority opinion. To understand the reasoning of
an opinion, you should first identify the source of the law the judge applied. Some opinions
interpret the Constitution, the founding charter of the government. Other cases interpret
“statutes,” which is a fancy name for written laws passed by legislative bodies such as Congress.
Still other cases interpret “the common law,” which is a term that usually refers to the body of
prior case decisions that derive ultimately from pre-1776 English law that the Colonists brought
over from England. 2
In your first year, the opinions that you read in your Torts, Contracts, and Property
classes will mostly interpret the common law. Opinions in Criminal Law mostly interpret either
the common law or statutes. Finally, opinion in your Civil Procedure casebook will mostly
interpret statutory law or the Constitution. The source of law is very important because
American law follows a clear hierarchy. Constitutional rules trump statutory (statute-based)
rules, and statutory rules trump common law rules. .
After you have identified the source of law, you should next identify the method of
reasoning that the court used to justify its decision. When a case is governed by a statute, for
example, the court usually will simply follow what the statute says. The court’s role is narrow in
such settings because the legislature has settled the law. Similarly, when past courts have
already answered similar questions before, a court may conclude that it is required to reach a
the student to “spot” and analyze the legal issues presented by those facts. These exam questions are known as
“issue spotters,” as they test the student’s ability to understand the facts and spot the legal issues they raise. As you
might imagine, doing well on an issue-spotter requires developing a careful and nuanced understanding of the
importance of the facts. The best way to prepare for that is to read the fact sections of your cases very carefully.
2
The phrase “common law” started being used about a thousand years ago to refer to laws that were
common to all English citizens. Thus, the word “common” in the phrase “common law” means common in the
sense of “shared by all,” not common in the sense of “not very special.” The “common law” was announced in
judicial opinions. As a result, you will sometimes hear the phrase “common law” used to refer to areas of judge-
made law as opposed to legislatively-made law.
5
6. particular result because it is bound by the past precedents. This is an application of the judicial
practice of “stare decisis,” an abbreviation of a Latin phrase meaning “That which has been
already decided should remain settled.”
In other settings, courts may justify their decisions on public policy grounds. That is,
they may pick the rule that they think is the best rule, and they may explain in the opinion why
they thin that rule is best. This is particularly likely in common law cases where judges are not
bound by a statute or constitutional rule. Other courts will rely on morality, fairness, or notions
of justice to justify their decisions. Many courts will mix and match, relying on several or even
all of these justifications.
5) Understand the significance of the majority opinion: Some opinions resolve the
parties’ legal dispute by announcing and applying a clear rule of law that is new to that particular
case. That rule is known as the “holding” of the case. Holdings are often contrasted with “dicta”
found in an opinion. Dicta refers to legal statements in the opinion not needed to resolve the
dispute of the parties; the word is an pluralized abbreviation of the Latin phrase “obiter dictum,”
which means “a remark by the way.”
When a court announces a clear holding, you should take a minute to think about how the
court’s rule would apply in other situations. During class, professors like to pose
“hypotheticals,” new sets of facts that are different from those found in the cases you have read.
They do this for two reasons. First, it’s hard to understand the significance of a legal rule unless
you think about how it might apply to lots of different situations. A rule might look good in one
setting, but another set of facts might reveal a major problem or ambiguity. Second, judges often
reason by “analogy,” which means a new case may be governed by an older case when the facts
of the new case are similar to those of the older one. This raises the question, which are the
legally relevant facts for this particular rule? The best way to evaluate this is to consider new
sets of facts. You’ll spend a lot of time doing this in class, and you can get a head start on your
class discussions by asking the hypotheticals on your own before class begins.
Finally, you should accept that some opinions are vague. Sometimes a court won’t
explain its reasoning very well, and that forces us to try to figure out what the opinion means.
You’ll look for the holding of the case but become frustrated because you can’t find one. It’s not
your fault; some opinions are written in a narrow way so that there is no clear holding, and
others are just poorly reasoned or written. Rather than trying to fill in the ambiguity with false
certainty, try embracing the ambiguity instead. One of the skills of top-flight lawyers is that they
know what they don’t know: they know when the law is unclear. Indeed, this skill of identifying
when a problem is easy and when it is hard (in the sense of being unsettled or unresolved by the
courts) is one of the keys to doing very well in law school. The best law students are the ones
who recognize and identify these unsettled issues without pretending that they are easy.
6) Understand any concurring and/or dissenting opinions. You probably won’t
believe me at first, but concurrences and dissents are very important. You need to read them
carefully. To understand why, you need to appreciate that law is man-made, and Anglo-
American law has often been judge-made. Learning to “think like a lawyer” often means
learning to think like a judge, which means learning how to evaluate which rules and
explanations are strong and which are weak. Courts occasionally say things that are silly,
wrongheaded, or confused, and you need to think independently about what judges say.
Concurring and dissenting opinions often do this work for you. Casebook authors edit out
any unimportant concurrences and dissents to keep the opinions short. When concurrences and
6
7. dissents appear in a casebook, it signals that they offer some valuable insights and raise
important arguments. Disagreement between the majority opinion and concurring or dissenting
opinions often frames the key issue raised by the case; to understand the case, you need to
understand the arguments offered in concurring and dissenting opinions.
IV. Why Do Law Schools Use the Case Method?
I’ll conclude by stepping back and explaining why law professors bother with the case
method. Every law student quickly realized that law school classes are very different from
college classes. Your college professors probably stood at the podium and droned on while you
sat back in your chair, safe in your cocoon. You’re now starting law school, and it’s very
different. You’re reading about actual cases, real-life disputes, and you’re trying to learn about
the law by picking up bits and pieces of it from what the opinions tell you. Even weirder, your
professors are asking you questions about those opinions, getting everyone to join in a discussion
about them. Why the difference, you may be wondering? Why do law schools use the case
method at all?
I think there are two major reasons, one historical and the other practical.
The Historical Reason: The legal system that we have inherited from England is largely
judge-focused. The judges have made the law what it is through their written opinions. To
understand that law, we need to study the actual decisions that the judges have written. Further,
we need to learn to look at law the way that judges look at law. In our system of government,
judges can only announce the law when deciding real disputes: they can’t just have a press
conference and announce a set of legal rules. (This is sometimes referred to as the “case and
controversy” requirement; the courts have no power to decide issues unless the issues are
presented by actual cases and controversies before the court). To look at the law the way that
judges do, we need to study actual cases and controversies, just like the judges. In short, we
study real cases and disputes because real cases and disputes historically have been the primary
source of law.
The Practical Reason: A second reason professors use the case method is that it teaches
an essential skill for practicing lawyers. Lawyers represent clients, and clients will want to
know how laws apply to them. To advise a client, a lawyer needs to understand exactly how an
abstract rule of law will apply to the very specific situations a client might encounter. This is
more difficult than you might think, in part because a legal rule that sounds definite and clear in
the abstract may prove murky in application. (For example, imagine you go to a public park and
see a sign that says “No vehicles in the park.” That plainly forbids an automobile, but what about
bicycles, wheelchairs, toy automobiles? What about airplanes? Ambulances? Are these
“vehicles” for the purpose of the rule or not?) As a result, good lawyers need a vivid
imagination; they need to imagine how rules might apply, where they might be unclear, and
where they might lead to unexpected outcomes. The case method and the frequent use of
hypotheticals will help train your brain to think this way. Learning the law in light of concrete
situations will help you deal with particular facts you’ll encounter as a practicing lawyer.
Good luck!
7