Deck 4: Legal Research and Writing

Question 1

Which of the following contains a federal statute?

A)U.S.C.
B)Statutes at Large
C)U.S.C.A.
D)All of the above.

Answer 1

D

Question 2

West's Regional Reporter series contains state court decisions from several states, all of which act as binding authority in the other states within the same region.

Answer 2

False

Question 3

Which of the following is a secondary source of law?

A)Constitution
B)Law review article
C)Statute
D)Court opinion

Answer 3

B

Question 4

Which of the following is an annotated reporter?

A)Statutes at Large
B)American Law Reports
C)American Jurisprudence
D)Supreme Court Reporter

Question 5

Statutory codes organize legislative enactments by title or subject.

Question 6

The concept of following previous cases or precedents is known as"stare decisis" means "let the decision stand.".

Question 7

All primary authority is binding on courts.

Question 8

There is an automatic right to have a federal case heard by the United State Supreme Court.

Question 9

In a criminal action, the victim is not a party in a case.

Question 10

An official set of statutes is published by the government.

Question 11

Which of the following citations is correct?

A)SMITH VERSUS JONES, 42 F.Reporter 978, 2001.
B)Smith, Mary, et al, v.Jones, Nancy, 42 F.Supp.978 (2001).
C)Smith v.Jones, 42 F.Supp.978 (2001).
D)Smith v.Jones, 42 F.Supp.978 (Conn.2001).

Question 12

Digests contain court opinions in chronological order of decision and reporters organize court opinions by topic or issue.Appellate courts generally decide questions of fact.

Question 13

An appellate judge that agrees with the holding of the majority but for different reasons might write a separate dissenting opinion.

Question 14

The power or authority to hear and decide a case is referred to as jurisdiction.

Question 15

Shepard's Citations can be used to validate both federal and state statutes, as well as court decisions, constitutional provisions and attorney general decisions.

Question 16

A trial brief contains the reader's notes of a court decision, and summarizes the facts, issues, holding and rationale of the court's decision.

Question 17

Proximity connectors are used to indicate whether the terms are in the same sentence, paragraph or within a specified number of terms within each other.

Question 18

Federal courts may only decide cases involving a federal issue - one based on a federal Constitutional provision, a statute passed by Congress, or a federal agency regulation, the case may be heard in federal court..

Question 19

Which of the following decisions would be binding precedent on the U.S.Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit in Chicago regarding an issue of negligence law?

A)A decision of the United States District Court in Chicago
B)A decision of a United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
C)A decision of the Illinois Supreme Court
D)None of the above

Question 20

A per curium opinion is one issued by a court without being attributed to a particular justice as author of the opinion.