law
- Forms essential basis for interaction between legal entities
- Defines appropriate conduct & expectations
- Provides mechanism for resolving disputes
Socratic method
- A teaching style characteristic of American legal education
- Professor asks probing questions, students respond
- Preferred over traditional lecturing style
case method
- A method of teaching the law
- Students are presented with legal issues/cases that they must work through
- Learning through problem solving and strategic decision-making
legal method
An organized set of techniques used to analyze and apply the law to a given set of facts or circumstances
case law/common law
Judicially created legal standards developed through the use of precedent that control when there is no statutory or constitutional law on point
statutory law/statutes
- Laws passed by a legislative body
- Can originate from national, state legislatures or local municipalities
trial court/lower court
The court where evidence is presented by the parties according to legal procedure and a verdict is rendered by a judge or jury
appellate court
A court that reviews the actions of the trial court to determine whether a legal error has occurred requiring a remedy
case brief
- Synopsis of a judicial opinion
- Designed to help determine the effect of prior judicial opinions on a current situation
- Uses a format known as F.I.R.A.C
precedent/stare decisis
- Court looks to past decisions with similar law and similar facts
- The court compares facts to make a decision consistent w/ past rulings
- Arises from need for consistency in the law
affirm
When an appeals court agrees with the decision of the lower court
reverse
When an appeals court overturns the decision of a lower court
remand
When an appeals court sends a case back to the lower court for further proceedings
concur
Opinion by an appellate court justice that agrees with the conclusions of the majority opinion
dissent
Written opinion by an appellate court justice who disagrees with the holding of the majority opinion
case citation
- A system used by legal professionals to identify past court case decisions
- Who?, what court?, when?
substantive facts
- The hard facts of a case
- What happened in the “real world?”
procedural facts
- Rules and procedures applied to a case in the context of the court
- What happened in the courts?
adversarial system
A characteristic of American courts where legal questions are resolved through a competition between the two sides to dispute
judicial law
- Branch that considers individual issues
- Case by case
- Clarifies existing law
- Protects constitution
structure of the Judiciary
- Trial court/lower court – jury hears evidence, determines facts, a judge applies rules to facts, verdict, consequence
- Appellate court – reviews alleged mistakes by trial court, no new evidence/facts presented, panel of judges, affirms or reverses, superior authority to trial court
dual court system
- Federal system - limited to the types of cases listed in the Constitution and specifically provided for by Congress
- State system - broader jurisdiction, cases of individuals most likely involved (except for lawsuits involving the U.S. or specific federal laws
federal court structure
Ascending order
U.S. District Courts (trial courts) > U.S. Courts of Appeal (13 circuit courts; special courts) > U.S. Supreme Court (9 Justices)
state court structure
Ascending order
Trial Courts (divided by county) > CA District Courts (ours is 3rd District) > CA Supreme Court
