Deck 4: Case Lawresearch and Briefing

Question 1

One of the major reasons to read case law is to gain insight into the litigation process.

Answer 1

True

Question 2

Most court opinions have at least one dissenting opinion.

Answer 2

False

Question 3

Common law may be created when a court decision makes new law.

Answer 3

True

Question 4

A court opinion usually includes a statement of facts, points of law, the rationale, and a dissenting opinion.

Question 5

Case law is far larger in volume than either constitutional or statutory law.

Question 6

Selected decisions of state appellate courts are published in the regional reporters.

Question 7

The syllabus is usually included in the body of a court opinion.

Question 8

A case citation includes the volume number, page number, and name of the reporter(s)where the court opinion may be found.

Question 9

United States Supreme Court Reports, Lawyers' Edition is an unofficial publication of United States Supreme Court decisions published by LexisNexis.

Question 10

Court decisions available through court Web sites are referred to as parallel citations.

Question 11

The decisions of the United States District Courts are published in the Federal Supplement.

Question 12

The primary source to determine if an opinion has been reversed is a Shepard's citator.

Question 13

Most court opinions, when published, are published in three formats.

Question 14

The page and volume number of a decision in an advance sheet is usually not the same as the page and volume number of the bound volume.

Question 15

Unpublished court opinions in the United States, both federal and state, are published by West Group.

Question 16

In a case brief, it is not necessary to include background facts.

Question 17

The official reporter for the decisions of the United States Supreme Court is the Supreme Court Reporter .

Question 18

Some opinions are difficult to read because the subject matter is complex or the court may have incorrectly interpreted the law.

Question 19

Not every decision by a court is published.

Question 20

The decisions of the United States Supreme Court are published in the Federal Reporters .

Question 21

In which of the following are selected state court decisions published?

A)South Eastern Reporter
B)Southern Reporter
C)Pacific Reporter
D)North Eastern Reporter
E)All of the above
F)Answers b, c, and d above

Question 22

In a published court opinion, the publisher writes what element(s)?

A)The syllabus
B)Headnotes
C)Key numbers
D)All of the above
E)Answers a and c above

Question 23

Which is an online source that may be used to determine if a case is still good law?

A)LexCite
B)Key Cite
C)AllCite
D)Shepard's Citation Services
E)Answers a, b, and c above
F)Answers a, b, and d above

Question 24

A court, when addressing the issue of what the term publication means when used in a specific statute, is:

A)Establishing law through interpreting existing law
B)Exercising a function not delegated to a court
C)Establishing common law through creating new law
D)Creating substantive sections
E)All of the above
F)Answers a and c above

Question 25

Which of the following is not mentioned in the text as a reason for reading and analyzing court opinions?

A)To interpret constitutional and statutory law
B)To locate additional primary and secondary authority
C)To understand the litigation process
D)To gain insight into legal analysis

Question 26

A case citation may include:

A)Parenthetical information
B)The reporter volume number
C)The reporter page number
D)The reporter name
E)All of the above
F)Answers b, c, and d above

Question 27

To locate case law, a researcher can:

A)Look to the statutory annotations, if the research involves interpreting a statute
B)Refer to a digest
C)Refer to Westlaw or LexisNexis
D)Refer to a secondary source
E)All of the above
F)Answers b, c, and d above

Question 28

The decisions of the United States Supreme Court are published in the following set(s):

A)Supreme Court Reporter
B)Federal Reporter
C)United States Supreme Court Reports, Lawyers' Edition
D)United States Reports
E)All of the above
F)Answers a, b, and d above
G)Answers a, c, and d above

Question 29

Which of the following is a specialized federal reporter?

A)Federal Rules Decisions
B)West's Bankruptcy Reporter
C)United States Claims Court Reporter
D)All of the above
E)Answers a, b, and c above

Question 30

Case briefs usually include the following element(s):

A)Facts
B)Prior proceedings
C)Body of the opinion
D)Issue(s)
E)All of the above
F)Answers a, b, and d above

Question 31

Most reporter volumes include a:

A)Table of cases
B)Table of statutes
C)Table of words and phrases
D)Key number digest
E)All of the above
F)Answers a, c, and d above

Question 32

Most court opinions are published in:

A)the National Register
B)State registers
C)Advance sheets
D)the Federal Register
E)All of the above
F)Answers a, b, and c above

Question 33

The body of a court opinion includes:

A)Facts of the case
B)Headnotes
C)Prior proceedings
D)The court's reasoning
E)All of the above
F)Answers a, b, and d above
G)Answers a, c, and d above

Question 34

Common law is often referred to as:

A)Case law
B)Court opinions
C)Judicial decisions
D)Judge-made law
E)All of the above
F)Answers a and c above
G)Answers a and d above

Question 35

The decisions of the United States District Courts are published in the:

A)Federal Reporter
B)United States Reports
C)United States Federal Reports
D)Federal Supplement
E)All of the above
F)Answers a and b above