Test your basic knowledge |

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. Supplement volumes or pocket part supplements should be used






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






3. Reviews the record for errors of law and reaches its own factual finding.






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






5. A secondary authority which is not the law itself but is - rather - a persuasive presentation by legal scholars of what the law is or what it should be in a particular topic






6. Is the primary finding tool for statutory law - either state or federal.






7. A bill that has been adopted into a law but has been printed singly rather than as a part of a group of laws






8. Published by West






9. When Internal Revenue Service is a party - the term Commissioner is used to identify it (meaning Commissioner of the Internal Revenue Service); never use the abbreviation IRS.






10. Alaska - Arizona - California - Colorado - Hawaii - Idaho - Kansas - Montana - Nevada - New Mexico - Oklahoma - Oregon - Utah - Washington - and Wyoming






11. Into seven regions.






12. How civil actions are handled - including rules that cover the complaint - summons - answer - discovery process - trial - and post-trial procedures






13. WESTLAW - West Publishing Company; and LEXIS - Mead Data Corporation.






14. 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.






15. 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.






16. Federal Rules Decisions






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






18. Result or disposition of the case






19. Products of West Legal Studies






20. U.S. Const. amend. XIV -






21. 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






22. A proposed legislative measure






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






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






25. 1. the title (chapter) number 2. abbreviation for the Code of Federal Regulation 3. section number symbol and the section number; and 4. year of publication






26. Opinion issued by one or more judges of the appellate court which disagrees with both the result and the reasoning of the majority opinion. There can be more than one






27. Decennial Digest and uses the key number system.






28. Extensive selected annotations that follows each reported case.






29. Connecticut - Delaware - D.C. (Court of Appeals) - Maine - Maryland - New Hampshire - New Jersey - Pennsylvania - Rhode Island - and Vermont






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






31. When state government is a party - such as the plaintiff in a criminal case - it is identified in the case name simply as "State" (State v. Jones).






32. 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






33. United States Supreme Court Reports - Lawyers' Edition






34. Use digest to find case references; read the case in the reporter; and shepardize to determine status.






35. 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






36. Fed. R. App. P. 2.






37. The cited authority states a proposition that is different from the proposition stated by the writer - but the proposition stated in the cited authority is sufficiently similar to lend support to the writer's proposition






38. Mandatory legal authority that consists of constitutions - statutes - case law - rules of procedure - rules of evidence - administrative rules - court rules - executive orders






39. The Statutes at Large.






40. Slip opinions collected and published periodically in a softbound or looseleaf format (in advance of the next bound volume of the case reporter series).






41. The court's ruling or disposition of the case (whether affirmed - reversed - remanded - or dismissed)






42. Holding of a case which guides the decisions in future cases involving similar facts and similar legal issues






43. United States Code (U.S.C.)






44. 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






45. Anew on the record - the appellate court must base its decision on the record (no new testimony can be received) but may reach an independent factual finding if the facts from the trial court are "clearly erroneous" based on the record as a whole






46. 1. case name 2. case reporter in which the case is published (include volume number - abbreviation of case reporter - and page where case begins); 3. identity of court issuing the opinion 4. year in which the decision was issued; and 5. subsequent hi






47. American Digest System






48. 1. volume number of Fed. Reg.2. abbreviation for Federal Register 3. page number where administrative rule begins; and 4. year of publication






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






50. Within the federal system - the chronologically published rules and regulations of administrative agencies