Legal Research and Writing Glossary Quiz

Rules, regulations, orders, and decisions adopted by administrative agencies that have authority of law

To support or urge the adoption of a position through the use of argument

A decision of an appellate court that upholds the decision of the trial court

Words that are related must agree in number and gender

A word clause or phrase referred to by a pronoun

A mark that indicates possession

A court that reviews the decision of a lower court to determine and correct any error that might have been made

The party who files an appeal

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

The party who opposes the appeal

Anything a court may rely on when deciding an issue

Fact presented in a court opinion, case brief, or legal memorandum that put the key facts in context

Marks used to show changes or additions to quotations

A section of a memorandum of law that presents a brief, precise answer to the issues addressed in the memorandum

The rule and regulations courts use when interpreting statues

In a opinion, the caption consists of the names of the parties to a lawsuit and their court status

A written summary identifying the essential components of a court opinion

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

The legal basis upon which a lawsuit is based

Information that allows the reader to locate where a reference can be found

The doctrine prevents a party in a lawsuit from re-litigating an issue that has been decided in a previous lawsuit

The punctuation mark used to introduce or call attention to information that follows

The most frequently used punctuation mark used to separate part of a sentence

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

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

A word formed by combining to words (can't, isn't)

The process of discovering and considering the counterarguments to a legal position or argument

The argument in opposition to a legal argument or position

The statement of a court of its decision reached in a case, the rule that applies, and the reasons for the court's decision

Procedural rules adopted by a court that governs the litigation process

A modifier that does not modify any other part of the sentence

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

The party against whom a lawsuit is brought

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

A judicial opinion in a case that disagrees with the majority opinion

In many states, the trial court of general jurisdiction

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

An essential component of law, rule, principle, or doctrine

The use of three dots to indicate the omission of part of a quotation

The body of law adopted by the people or legislative bodies, including constitutions, statutes, ordinances, and administrative rule and regulations

A cannon of construction that provides that if a statute contains a list of items covered by the statute, everything else in included

A memorandum of law designed for use outside the law office

Information concerning some thing, action, event, or circumstance

A court of general jurisdiction has the power, with few exceptions, to hear and decide any matter brought before it

Summaries of the points of law discussed in a court opinion prepared by the publisher of an opinion

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

A mark used to form compound modifiers and compound nouns (well-know, ex-judge)

A verb form that functions as a noun or as an auxiliary verb (e.g. to argue, to leave)

Correspondence that provides general legal information or background on a legal issue

To research and analyze a problem objectively

Issue, Rule, Analysis/Application, Conclusion

Facts that are coincidental to an event but are not of significant legal importance in a case

The precise legal question raised by the specific facts of a dispute

A complete statement of the issue that includes the specific law, legal question, and key facts

A broad formulation of the issue that usually does not include reference to the specific facts of the case or the applicable law

The court's authority to hear and resolve specific disputes (e.g. subjection matter and personal jurisdiction)

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

Individual facts that, when considered as a group, are key facts

A key fact that, if is were changed, the outcome of the case would be affected or changed

West Group's division American law into various topics and subtopics

The enforceable rules that govern individual and group conduct in society

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

The process of identifying the law or legal authority that applies to the issue

The record of legislation during the enactment process

The limitation of a court to hear and decide cases

The opinion in a court decision of the majority of judges

Any authority or source of law that a court must rely on or follow when reaching a decision

A written analysis of a legal problem

A word or phrase that provides a description of the subject, verb, or object in a sentence

A noun created from a verb

Words that refer to person, places, things, or qualities

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)

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

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

The written statement by the court expressing how it ruled in a case and the reasons for it ruling

Correspondence, usually written to the client, that informs the reader of how the law applies to a specific question and provides legal advice

The skeletal structure and organized framework of a writing

An outline that has been expanded so that it may be used in the prewriting stage

A group of sentences that address the same topic

When a court opinion is printed in more than one reporter, each citation is a parallel citation to the other citation or citations

Marks used to add to a sentence information that is outside the main idea of the sentence of of lesser importance

A cannon of construction that provides that statues dealing with the same subject should be interpreted consistently

A plaintiff or defendant in a lawsuit

The authority of the court over the parties to resolve a legal dispute involving the parties

Any authority a court is not bound to consider or follow but may consider of when reaching a decision

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

The party who starts (files) the lawsuit

A summary of the position advocated in the argument section of a trial or appellate brief

The stage in the legal writing process where an assignment is revised, edited, and assembled in final form

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

A verb, it modifiers, and the object of the verb

The stage in legal writing process where the assignment is organized, researched, and analyzed

Authority that is composed of the law (e.g. constitutions, statutes, and court opinions)

The events that occurred in the litigation in a lower court or administrative hearing

Mark or characters used is writing to make the meaning clear and easy to understand

A statutory section that includes the purpose the legislative body intended to accomplish when drafting the statute

Marks used identify and set off quoted material

A term used that means "in the matter of, about, or concerning"

A decision of a appellate court that sends the case back to the trial court for further action

A decision of a appellate court that disagrees with the decision of the trial court

The part of a letter that presents the greeting

A statutory section that states what is specifically covered and not covered by the statute

Any source of law a court may rely on that is not the law

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

The fundamental building block of writing composed of a group of words that convey a single thought

The name by which the statute is know

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

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

The section of a memorandum of law that presents the factual context of the the issue(s) addressed in the memorandum

Laws passed by legislative bodies that declare right and duties, or command or prohibit certain conduct

The interruption and application of statutory law

The specific conditions of or components of a statue that must be met for the statute to apply

The body of law composed of law passes by legislative bodies (includes law or ordinances)

A noun or pronoun that is the actor in a sentence

The types of kinds of cases the court has the authority to hear and decide

The sentence that identifies the subject of a paragraph

The court where the matter is heard and decided

An external memorandum of law submitted to a trial court that present the legal authority and argument advocated by and attorney

The trial court of general jurisdiction in the federal judicial system

The final court of appeals in the federal system and the highest court in the US

Words that express action, a state of being or feeling, or a relation between two things

The relationship of the subject to the action of the sentence

The stage is the legal writing process where research, analysis, and ideas are assembled into a written product

A writ form a higher court asking the lower court for the record of a case