Legal Studies Chapter 1

Front 1

Administrative Agency

Back 1

governmental body who administer/ implement laws. have legislative, executive, and judicial powers

Ex- FBI, EPA, DEA

Front 2

Affirm

Back 2

when a decision is set, the appellate court determines that the lower court made the right decision.

Front 3

Appellent

Back 3

people who appeal the lower court’s decision

Front 4

Appellee

Back 4

party against whom the appeal is filed for

Front 5

Caption

Back 5

that part of a case that identifies/introduces the names of the parties involved in the lawsuit

(Klein vs. Raysinger)

Front 6

Common Law Marriage

Back 6

a marriage in which the parties have the capacity to marry, agree to be married, and hold themselves to the world as being married. no longer recognized in PA

Front 7

Concurring Opinion

Back 7

an opinion written by a judge who agrees with the outcome of the case but wants to note a difference in logic for reaching the decision

Front 8

Defendent

Back 8

who is being sued

Front 9

Dissenting Opinion

Back 9

a judge writes a dissent when he or she disagrees with the result reached by the majority; the dissent has no value as precedent

Front 10

Domestic Partnership

Back 10

Unwed couple; gay or straight; can acquire legal rights and protections by contract to the other’s assets

Front 11

Family Law

Back 11

those rights, duties, involving marriage, the family, a civil union, domestic partnership, divorce and other family related issues

-falls under private law

Front 12

Intangible Property

Back 12

property that is not a physical object; a patent or trademark

Front 13

Personal Property

Back 13

property that isn’t land; can be tangible (car, book, clothes) or intangible (bank accounts, stocks, bonds, patents, copyrights)

Front 14

Plaintiff

Back 14

the party who initiates the case- files complaint

Front 15

Precedent

Back 15

(stare decisis)- judges apply rules/decisions to the current case at hand by comparing it to past cases

Front 16

Private Law

Back 16

involves matters between the individuals the incident was about;

- through forms of contract, tort, marriage, and property law

Front 17

Property Law

Back 17

deals with the rights/duties that come from ownership/possession of real or personal property. defines and enforces the rights and rules that come with owning property

Front 18

Public Law

Back 18

involves rights of a society as a whole; interests are handled by a government agency;

- can be criminal, constitutional, or administrative law

Ex: "crime of murder"

Front 19

Real Property

Back 19

land and everything attached to the land

Front 20

Remanded

Back 20

appellate court “sends back” a case to the trial court when they find that the trial judge made an error

Front 21

Appeal

Back 21

taken back- relooked at because appellent thought it was wrong

Front 22

Reverse

Back 22

appellate court reverses the decision when it finds that the lower court’s decision was wrong

Front 23

Tangible Property

Back 23

physical, touchable, cars, shoes

Front 24

Tort Law

Back 24

a private civil wrong against an individual where the court will award money damages

-negligence, intentional torts, products liability

Front 25

Treaties

Back 25

an agreement between two or more parties

Front 26

Statutory Law

Back 26

designed to address problems in our society and make rules that people are concerned about. can be federal, state or municipal

Front 27

Common Law

Back 27

Article 3 of the Constitution- judges make the law based on customs and traditions of the people. allows judges to interpret the laws and judge what conduct is proper and valued

Front 28

Opinions

Back 28

written explanations of the decision so the public understand the court's reasoning for why they decided on what they decided

Front 29

Citation

Back 29

tells the reader how to locate the case (470 A.2d 507)

Front 30

Majority Opinion

Back 30

decision reached by more than half of the judges

Front 31

Status and process

Back 31

makes judicial decisions easier to understand; possible to predict outcome of the case without knowing the law.

Front 32

Freedom of Information Act

Back 32

provides that anyone has a right, enforceable in court, to gain access to federal agency records, except if they are specifically told/enforced that its illegal.

Front 33

Criminal Law

Back 33

violates the rights of society, not the individual victim of the crime. "on behalf of society" goes against criminal

Front 34

Administrative Law

Back 34

focus on specialized areas of law- staffed with experts in the field. (FBI, EPA, DEA)

Front 35

Contract Law

Back 35

deals with the exchanges of promises made by the parties- (buying gas, taking public trans, getting lunch)

Front 36

Cyberlaw

Back 36

deals with tasks/transactions handled over the Internet/ other digital networks. New, law hasn't had time to adapt this changing world- hard to apply certain principles

Front 37

Corporate Governance

Back 37

Concerns the relationship between shareholders, stakeholders, Officers, and Board of Directors.

- manage business fairly, adhere to laws, be ethical with transactions, make decisions correctly

Front 38

Primary Source

Back 38

written law itself; cases, laws, legal decisions; fall into 2 categories (binding and persuasive)

Front 39

Binding Authority

Back 39

In-state violation- performed in-state under law

Front 40

Persuasive Authority

Back 40

Out-of-state

Front 41

Secondary Sources

Back 41

consists of all other writings on the law;

-could be law review articles, treaties, restatements,

Front 42

Case Law

Back 42

refers to the written decisions issued by judges; cases are collected in large volumes of books (reporters) (westlaw and lexis)

Front 43

Statutory Law

Back 43

regards to statutes/laws-

Front 44

Statute

Back 44

law passed by legislation