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Administrative Law
Rules, regulations, orders, and decisions adopted by administrative agencies that have authority of law
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Advocacy
To support or urge the adoption of a position through the use of argument
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Affirm
A decision of an appellate court that upholds the decision of the trial court
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Agreement
Words that are related must agree in number and gender
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Antecedent
A word clause or phrase referred to by a pronoun
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Apostrophe
A mark that indicates possession
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Appeals Court
A court that reviews the decision of a lower court to determine and correct any error that might have been made
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Appellant
The party who files an appeal
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Appellate Brief
An external memorandum of law submitted to a court of appeals that presents that legal analysis, authority, and argument in support of a position that the lower court decision or ruling was either correct or incorrect
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Appellee
The party who opposes the appeal
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Authority
Anything a court may rely on when deciding an issue
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Background Facts
Fact presented in a court opinion, case brief, or legal memorandum that put the key facts in context
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Brackets [...]
Marks used to show changes or additions to quotations
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Brief Answer
A section of a memorandum of law that presents a brief, precise answer to the issues addressed in the memorandum
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Cannons of Construction
The rule and regulations courts use when interpreting statues
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Caption
In a opinion, the caption consists of the names of the parties to a lawsuit and their court status
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Caes Brief
A written summary identifying the essential components of a court opinion
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Case Law Analysis
The analytical process engaged in to determine if and how a decision in a court opinion either governs or affects the outcome of a client's case
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Cause of Action
The legal basis upon which a lawsuit is based
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Citation
Information that allows the reader to locate where a reference can be found
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Collateral Estoppal, Doctrine of
The doctrine prevents a party in a lawsuit from re-litigating an issue that has been decided in a previous lawsuit
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Colon (:)
The punctuation mark used to introduce or call attention to information that follows
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Comma (,)
The most frequently used punctuation mark used to separate part of a sentence
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Common Law/Case Law
The body of law created by the courts composed of general legal rules, doctrines, and principles adopted by courts when interpreting existing law or when creating law in the absence of controlling enacted law
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Constitution
A governing document adopted by the people that establishes the framework for the operation of the government, defines the power of the government, and guarantees the fundamental rights of the people
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Contraction
A word formed by combining to words (can't, isn't)
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Counter-analysis
The process of discovering and considering the counterarguments to a legal position or argument
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Counterargument
The argument in opposition to a legal argument or position
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Court Opinion
The statement of a court of its decision reached in a case, the rule that applies, and the reasons for the court's decision
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Court Rules
Procedural rules adopted by a court that governs the litigation process
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Dangling Modifier
A modifier that does not modify any other part of the sentence
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Dash (-)
A mark used in a sentence to emphasize something, set off lists, briefly summarize materials containing commas, or show an abrupt change of thought or direction
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Defendant
The party against whom a lawsuit is brought
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Demand/Advocacy Letter
Correspondence designed to persuade someone to take action favorable to the interests of the client or cease acting in a manner that is detrimental to the client
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Dissenting Opinion
A judicial opinion in a case that disagrees with the majority opinion
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District Court
In many states, the trial court of general jurisdiction
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Ejusdem Generis
A cannon of construction that provides that whenever a statute contains a specific list followed by a general term, the general term is interpreted to be limited to other things of the same class or kind as the list
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Element
An essential component of law, rule, principle, or doctrine
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Ellipsis (...)
The use of three dots to indicate the omission of part of a quotation
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Enacted Law
The body of law adopted by the people or legislative bodies, including constitutions, statutes, ordinances, and administrative rule and regulations
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Expessio Unius
A cannon of construction that provides that if a statute contains a list of items covered by the statute, everything else in included
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External Memorandum
A memorandum of law designed for use outside the law office
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Fact
Information concerning some thing, action, event, or circumstance
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General Jurisdiction
A court of general jurisdiction has the power, with few exceptions, to hear and decide any matter brought before it
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Headnotes
Summaries of the points of law discussed in a court opinion prepared by the publisher of an opinion
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Holding
The court's application of the rule of law of the legal question raised by the facts of a case; the court's answer to the legal issue of a case
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Hypen (-)
A mark used to form compound modifiers and compound nouns (well-know, ex-judge)
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Infinitive
A verb form that functions as a noun or as an auxiliary verb (e.g. to argue, to leave)
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Information Letter
Correspondence that provides general legal information or background on a legal issue
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Intellectual Honesty
To research and analyze a problem objectively
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IRAC
Issue, Rule, Analysis/Application, Conclusion
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Irrelevant Facts
Facts that are coincidental to an event but are not of significant legal importance in a case
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Issue
The precise legal question raised by the specific facts of a dispute
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Issue Comprehensive/Narrow Statement
A complete statement of the issue that includes the specific law, legal question, and key facts
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Issue Short/Broad Statement
A broad formulation of the issue that usually does not include reference to the specific facts of the case or the applicable law
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Jurisdiction
The court's authority to hear and resolve specific disputes (e.g. subjection matter and personal jurisdiction)
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Key Fact(s)
The legally significant facts of a case that raise the legal question of how or whether the law governing the dispute applies; the facts upon which the outcome of the case is determined
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Key Facts Groups
Individual facts that, when considered as a group, are key facts
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Key Facts Individual
A key fact that, if is were changed, the outcome of the case would be affected or changed
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Key Numbers
West Group's division American law into various topics and subtopics
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Law
The enforceable rules that govern individual and group conduct in society
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Legal Analysis
The process of identifying the issue or issues presented by a client's facts and determining what law applies and how it applies; applying the law to the facts of the case
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Legal Research
The process of identifying the law or legal authority that applies to the issue
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Legislative History
The record of legislation during the enactment process
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Limited Jurisdiction
The limitation of a court to hear and decide cases
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Majority Opinion
The opinion in a court decision of the majority of judges
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Mandatory Authority
Any authority or source of law that a court must rely on or follow when reaching a decision
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Memorandum of Law
A written analysis of a legal problem
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Modifier
A word or phrase that provides a description of the subject, verb, or object in a sentence
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Nominalization
A noun created from a verb
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Nouns
Words that refer to person, places, things, or qualities
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Office Legal Memorandum
A legal memorandum prepared of office use that presents an objective legal analysis of the issue(s) raised by the facts of the client's case (usually includes the arguments in favor of and in opposition to the client's position)
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On All Fours
A prior court opinion in which the key facts and applicable rule of law are identical or nearly identical with those of the client's case or the case before the court
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On Point
A term used to refer to a prior court opinion in which the facts are sufficiently similar to the facts of the client's case or the case before the court for the prior court opinion to apply as precedent
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Opinion
The written statement by the court expressing how it ruled in a case and the reasons for it ruling
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Opinion Letter
Correspondence, usually written to the client, that informs the reader of how the law applies to a specific question and provides legal advice
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Outline
The skeletal structure and organized framework of a writing
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Outline, Expanded
An outline that has been expanded so that it may be used in the prewriting stage
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Paragraph
A group of sentences that address the same topic
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Parallel Citation
When a court opinion is printed in more than one reporter, each citation is a parallel citation to the other citation or citations
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Parentheses ()
Marks used to add to a sentence information that is outside the main idea of the sentence of of lesser importance
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Pari Materia
A cannon of construction that provides that statues dealing with the same subject should be interpreted consistently
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Party
A plaintiff or defendant in a lawsuit
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Personal Jurisdiction
The authority of the court over the parties to resolve a legal dispute involving the parties
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Persuasive Authority
Any authority a court is not bound to consider or follow but may consider of when reaching a decision
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Plain Meaning Rule
A cannon of construction that provides that if the meaning of a statute is clear on its face, it will be interpreted according to its plain meaning and the other cannons of construction will not be applied by the court
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Plaintiff
The party who starts (files) the lawsuit
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Point Heading
A summary of the position advocated in the argument section of a trial or appellate brief
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Post-writing Stage
The stage in the legal writing process where an assignment is revised, edited, and assembled in final form
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Precedent
An earlier court decision on an issue that applies to govern or guide a subsequent court in its determination of an identical or similar issue based upon identical or similar facts
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Predicate
A verb, it modifiers, and the object of the verb
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Prewriting Stage
The stage in legal writing process where the assignment is organized, researched, and analyzed
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Primary Authority
Authority that is composed of the law (e.g. constitutions, statutes, and court opinions)
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Prior Proceedings
The events that occurred in the litigation in a lower court or administrative hearing
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Punctuation
Mark or characters used is writing to make the meaning clear and easy to understand
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Purpose Clause
A statutory section that includes the purpose the legislative body intended to accomplish when drafting the statute
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Quotation
Marks used identify and set off quoted material
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Re
A term used that means "in the matter of, about, or concerning"
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Remand
A decision of a appellate court that sends the case back to the trial court for further action
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Reverse
A decision of a appellate court that disagrees with the decision of the trial court
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Salutation
The part of a letter that presents the greeting
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Scope
A statutory section that states what is specifically covered and not covered by the statute
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Secondary Authority
Any source of law a court may rely on that is not the law
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Semicolon (;)
A punctuation mark used to separate major elements of complex sentences, or to separate items in a series if the times are long if on e of the items has internal commas
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Sentence
The fundamental building block of writing composed of a group of words that convey a single thought
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Short Title
The name by which the statute is know
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Squinting Modifier
A modifier located in a position in a sentence that makes in unclear whether it modifies the word that precedes or the word that it follows
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Stare Decisis
A basic principle of the common law system that requires a court to follow a previous decision of that court or a higher court when the current decision involves issues and facts similar to those involved in the previous decision
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Statement of Facts
The section of a memorandum of law that presents the factual context of the the issue(s) addressed in the memorandum
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Statutes
Laws passed by legislative bodies that declare right and duties, or command or prohibit certain conduct
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Statutory Analysis
The interruption and application of statutory law
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Statutory Elements
The specific conditions of or components of a statue that must be met for the statute to apply
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Statutory Law
The body of law composed of law passes by legislative bodies (includes law or ordinances)
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Subject
A noun or pronoun that is the actor in a sentence
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Subject Matter Jurisdiction
The types of kinds of cases the court has the authority to hear and decide
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Topic Sentence
The sentence that identifies the subject of a paragraph
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Trial Court
The court where the matter is heard and decided
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Trial Court Brief
An external memorandum of law submitted to a trial court that present the legal authority and argument advocated by and attorney
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United States District Court
The trial court of general jurisdiction in the federal judicial system
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United States Supreme Court
The final court of appeals in the federal system and the highest court in the US
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Verbs
Words that express action, a state of being or feeling, or a relation between two things
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Voice
The relationship of the subject to the action of the sentence
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Writing Stage
The stage is the legal writing process where research, analysis, and ideas are assembled into a written product
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Writ of Certiorari
A writ form a higher court asking the lower court for the record of a case
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