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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. To indicate the full citation for the case follows at a later point in the memorandum or brief.


2. Rule of law for which the case is cited as precedent; it is the legal effect of the facts of the case






3. Federal district courts across the country.






4. 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.






5. Sometimes called a hornbook - is a single-volume text written by a legal scholar in a given topic area






6. U.S. Const. art. IV -






7. Govern the form and procedure for appeals from the U.S. District Court to the Court of Appeals within the federal system






8. Anew - from the beginning - the case is tried in the appellate court as if it had not been tried previously - and witness are allowed to testify.






9. Slip opinions compiled in two different sets of advance sheets: (1) United States Law Week (U.S.L.W) - published weekly by the Bureau of National Affairs and (2) United States Supreme Court Bulletin - published by Commerce Clearing House.






10. 1. name of the act 2. abbreviation of Public Law and the public law number 3. volume number of the Statutes at Large 4. abbreviation for Statutes at Large 5. page number where the statutes begins; and 6. the year when the statute was passed as law.






11. The three branches of government that make up each legal system- legislative - judicial and executive






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






13. 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






14. Official publication






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






16. Digests






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






18. When an official body authorizes and directs the collection and publication of law






19. United States Supreme Court Reports - Lawyers' Edition






20. Result or disposition of the case






21. Encyclopedias that are arranged alphabetically and contain narrative - expository information on a variety of legal topics. published by West and Lawyers Co-op






22. 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.






23. While indexes summarize statute topics






24. Devoted to a table of cases and a descriptive word index.






25. Shepard's Citations - statute edition






26. The cited authority contradicts the proposition stated in the memorandum






27. The appellate court reviews the record for prejudicial legal errors committed in the trial court but gives great deference to the findings of fact; factual findings are generally reversed only when they are "arbitrary or capricious"






28. Is an official publication that includes all laws enacted by Congress.






29. 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






30. Primary authority






31. Issued by a private - non-government publisher (primary law - secondary law - encyclopedia - or other).






32. S. Ct.






33. Researcher checks red advance sheets first (most recent); yellow paperback; and finally - the bound volume(s).


34. Statutes at Large (Stat.)






35. 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






36. 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






37. The process used to synthesize legal principles from all prior cases with similar facts and similar issues of law to arrive at a decision in a specific case






38. A proposed legislative measure






39. Fed. R. App. P. 2.






40. Legal dictionary - treatise - restatement of law - encyclopedia






41. 1. U.S. Constitutional provision and amendments 2. Federal statutes 3. Federal procedural rules 4. Federal cases (U.S. - F.3d - the F.Supp.) 5. State cases (official reporter - then regional reporter) 6. Federal administrative rules and regulations 7






42. Opinion issued by one or more judges of the appellate court which agrees with the result reached by the majority but disagrees with the reasoning of the majority opinion. There can be more than one.






43. Secondary authority that is leading annotated law reporter published by Lawyers Co-op. Distinguishing feature not the cases that it reports - but the extensive editorial commentary that follows each reported case - Restatements of Law Published by th






44. Identified as "United States" in the case name (do not abbreviate as U.S. or as U.S.A.)






45. Ratio decidendi- court's reasoning or basis for its holding and decision






46. The court's explanatory comments - which can included the holding - the rationale for the holding - and dicta






47. 1. number of the Code title2. abbreviation for the United States Code 3. section symbol - followed by the number of the Code section; and4. date of the Code volume in which the most recent version of the section can be found






48. Unofficial U.S. Supreme Court case reporter published by West






49. Is issued when a federal case first decides a case. This is a single opinion of the court issued without headnotes and without indexing.






50. Pleadings - transcript of trial testimony - and exhibits