Question | Answer |
primary sources | The resources that provide the actual law; laws are found in statutes, case law, and the Constitution. |
secondary sources | Tools used to understand the law; one such tool is a legal encyclopedia that explains the law. |
issue | A question that must be decided by a court |
relevant | Relevant evidence relates directly to the issue; a relevant fact is a fact that is tied directly to the client’s legal question. |
bifurcate | To sever from the trial; in family law, |
legal encyclopedia | A collection of legal information; a secondary source of the law. |
finding tools | The resources used to locate primary and secondary sources; for example, a digest. |
annotation | A brief summary of a statute or a case |
form book | A legal resource filled with sample forms and explanations on how and when to use the forms; many are available on CD, and some are online in legal databases. |
law review | A publication containing articles written by judges, professors, and attorneys; |
treatise | A book that reviews a special field of law; a summary of the law on a particular subject; often called a hornbook. |
digest | An index to reported cases, arranged by subject; a short summary of the case is provided. |
case law | A collection of reported cases. |
reporter | A set of published volumes of cases by courts. |
Lexis | A fee-based computer-assisted legal research service provided by LexisNexis. |
Westlaw | A fee-based computer-assisted legal research service provided by Thompson-Reuter West. |
Bloomberg Law | A fee-based computer-assisted legal research service provided by Bloomberg Law. |
rules of law | Legal principles that are applied to the facts; generally derived from statutes, case law, and the Constitution. |
holding | The legal principle to be taken from the court’s decision. |
precedent | The example set by the decision of an earlier court for similar cases or similar legal questions that arise in later cases. |
regional reporter | A set of published volumes of cases by courts in specific regions of the United States, |
brief | A written document that might contain a summary of the facts, issues, rules, and analysis used by a court and a comparison with a client’s facts; |
stare decisis | "It stands decided”; another term for precedent. |
statute | A legislatively created law; a written enactment. |
pocket part | A removable supplement to a volume of statutory law |
computer-assisted legal research (CALR) | Legal research done with the use of a computer; includes the use of CD-ROM, online services such as Lexis and Westlaw, the Internet, and intranets. |
full-text search | Legal research method utilized in computer-assisted legal research, in which all documents in a database are searched for certain words. |
query | Words that constitute a search request when using CD-ROM or online materials. |
key words | Words that describe important aspects of a research question. |
Boolean | A special logic used in computerized legal research; utilizes the use of connective words. |
connectors | Words such as and or or used in a search query to show the relationship between key words or terms. |
Shepard’s | A tool used by Lexis to update and validate law. |
KeyCite | A tool used by Westlaw to update and validate law. |
copyright | A copyright is a legal protection for authors of “original works of authorship” such as literary, dramatic, musical, artistic, and certain other works. |
ntellectual property | Intangible property including patents, trademarks, trade names, and copyright. |
wildcard | A symbol used in a word that substitutes for any letter; often an asterisk |
legislative history | The proceedings that relate to a bill before it becomes a law. |
legal analysis | The process of comparing and contrasting facts and legal issues. |
case brief | A short summary of a published case. |
question presented | A statement of the legal issue presented to the court for resolution. |
adjudicate | To resolve; when the court adjudicates an issue, the issue is resolved. |
concurring opinion | A separate opinion written by one or more justices in a case; this opinion agrees with the ultimate decision of the majority of the court, but with a reasoning that differs from the reasoning of the majority of the court. |
dissenting opinion | disagrees with the decision of the majority of the court. |
legal memorandum | An informal interoffice document written to communicate the results of legal research and the resulting legal analysis. |