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Certified Legal Research

Subject : certifications
Instructions:
  • Answer 50 questions in 15 minutes.
  • If you are not ready to take this test, you can study here.
  • Match each statement with the correct term.
  • Don't refresh. All questions and answers are randomly picked and ordered every time you load a test.

This is a study tool. The 3 wrong answers for each question are randomly chosen from answers to other questions. So, you might find at times the answers obvious, but you will see it re-enforces your understanding as you take the test each time.
1. Ratio decidendi- court's reasoning or basis for its holding and decision






2. Published by West






3. United States Supreme Court Digest (West) and United States Supreme Court Digest - Lawyers' Edition (Lawyers Co-op)






4. Type of law consisting of legislative enactments called statutes at federal level and ordinances at state levels.






5. Case reports - published by West - that divides the United States into seven geographical regions and reports the decisions of the highest appellate court of each state within that region.






6. Obiter dictum- comments of the court about minor issues or concerns other than the specific holding - rationale - and decision. Never cited as precedent






7. A proposed legislative measure






8. Brief summary of facts of case - including its procedural posture






9. Is the same case published in more than one case reporter and should not be used when citing to U.S. Supreme Court cases; cite to U.S. Reports ONLY - for state cases must be cited if they exist.






10. 15 U.S.C.






11. To indicate that the full citation for the case was given previously.


12. USOC - also known as the Blue Book - is universally accepted authority on legal citations - which is published jointly by the law reviews of Columbia - Harvard - the University of Pennsylvania - and Yale Law Schools.






13. Statutory law






14. While indexes summarize statute topics






15. Surnames are used for individual parties (Watson v. Jones).






16. Legal encyclopedia published by Lawyers Co-op






17. Govern the types of evidence that are admissible in criminal and civil trials and - in some situations - the manner in which the evidence can be presented during trial






18. Federal district courts across the country.






19. Fed. R. Evid. 401






20. Result or disposition of the case






21. Fed. R. Crim. P. 42






22. For a particular reporter or a particular group of reporters.






23. Omit initials in unless the initial is part of the widely recognzied name (B.J. Hollis Corp. becomes Hollis Corp. - but initials are retained for J.C. Penney Co.). Omit Ltd. - Inc. - and similar terms if the party's name also contains R.R. - Co. - Br






24. The Federal Reporter






25. Federal Cases






26. Digest topic






27. A reference to a legal authority - such as a constitution - statute - case - administrative rule - or other authority.






28. Iowa - Michigan - Minnesota - Nebraska - North Dakota - South Dakota - and Wisconsin






29. Federal Supplement (F. Supp.) - Federal Reporter - Second Series (F.2d) - Federal Reporter (F.) - Federal Cases (F. Cas.) - all unofficial and all published by West






30. Is a finding tool ONLY - usually compiled by the publisher of the case reporter to which it relates. NEVER cite as legal authority for any purpose.






31. There are 3 case reporters for the U.S. Supreme Court - United States Reports (U.S.) Official - Supreme Court Reporter (S.Ct.) Unofficial - United States Supreme Court Reports - Lawyers' Edition (L.Ed. or L.Ed.2d) Unofficial






32. Indicates that the full citation appears later in the memorandum - brief - or other work.






33. West key number system






34. At the close of each legislative term.






35. Legal encyclopedia published by West






36. 22 C.F.R.






37. 1. volume number of encyclopedia 2. abbreviated name of encyclopedia 3. title of article (underscored or in italics) 4. section symbol and section number within the article; 5. specific page within section; and 6. date of publication






38. Are catalogued under topics and subtopics assigned to key numbers - using the TARP method. T - thing or subject matter involved in the case; A - Action (cause of action) or ground for defense to an action; R - Relief sought; P - parties - meaning the






39. 1. full name of author 2. designation of type of article (required only if written by student); 3. title of article (italicized or underscored) 4. volume number of law review 5. abbreviated name of law review 6. page number where article begins; and






40. Only those state appellate court cases which are significant (indicates a change in the law or a new trend in legal thinking).






41. 1. full name of author; 2. the word "Annotation"; 3. title of annotation (underscored or in italics); 4. volume number of A.L.R. series 5. abbreviation for Annotated Law Reports 6. page number where the annotation begins; 7. year of publication






42. The entire court participates rather than the permissible quorum. This does not mean that the entire court agrees on the outcome - however.






43. Avery v. Exxon Co. - 397 U.S. 812 (1991).






44. Health Care Act - Pub. L. 92-117 - 83 Stat. 624 (1987).






45. Into seven regions.






46. Both legal and nonlegal - may proide persuasive authority in a given case and should not be overlooked as a research source.






47. Shepard's Citations - statute edition






48. Opinion issued by the majority of the judges of the appellate court; the holding of this opinion may be cited as precedent if all other criteria are met. There is only one in a case






49. Compilations of cases and historical matter dealing with various aspects of a code of statute - which contain short summaries of other cases - both for and against






50. The method used to determine whether a case still is good law is to check the citation in the appropriate set of Shepard's Citations.