= Basic Legal Terms Action: Case, cause, suit or controversy disputed or contested before a court of justice. Affirm: To declare a judgment, decree, or order is valid and must stand as rendered below. A Fortiori: Literally, with stronger reason. A logic term used to label an argument claiming that because one ascertained fact exists, therefore another, analogous fact must also exist. Amicus Curiae: Literally, a friend of the court. A person with strong interest in or views on the subject matter of an action, but not a party to the action, may petition the court for permission to file a brief, ostensibly on behalf of a party but actually to suggest rationale consistent with its own views. Averment: In a pleading, to allege or assert positively. Cause: A lawsuit, litigation, or action. Any question, civil or criminal, litigated or contested before a court of justice. Cause of Action: The facts that give rise to a lawsuit. Certiorari: Literally, to be informed of. The loser of a case will often ask the appellate court to issue a writ of certiorari, which orders the lower court to convey the record of the case to the appellate court and to certify it as accurate and complete. If an appellate court grants a writ of certiorari, it agrees to take the appeal, often referred to as “granting cert.” Common Law: Law arising from tradition and judicial decisions, as opposed to statutory law, passed by the legislature. Declaratory Judgment: A judgment that, without the need for enforcement, declares the rights of the parties or an interpretation of the law. A binding adjudication of the rights and status of litigants even though no actual, consequential relief is awarded, A party asks for a declaratory judgment if it feels the law is unclear, wants to be sure it is, acting legally before acting, or wants to inform everyone that a certain action is legal or illegal. Such judgment is conclusive in a subsequent action between the parties as to the ‘matters declared, For example, a court may te asked to issue a declaratory judgment on the constitutionality of a statute. Compare with injunctions.Decree: The judgment of a court of equity or chancery, answering for most purposes to the judgment of a court of law. A decree in equity is a sentence or order of the court, pronounced on hearing and understanding all issues, and determining the rights of all the Patties to the suit, according to equity and good conscience. With the procedural merger of law and equity under the Rules of Civil Procedure, the term “judgment” has generally replaced “decree.” Demurrer: A motion to dismiss a civil case because of the legal insufficiency of a complaint. An allegation that, even if the facts as stated are taken to be true, there is no violation of law or grounds for civil damages. De Novo Trial: Trying a matter anew; the same as if it had not been heard before and as if no decision had been previously rendered. Dicta: An observation or remark made by a judge in pronouncing an opinion upon a cause, concerning some rule, principle, or application of law, but not necessarily involved in the case or essential to its holding; any stetement of the law enunciated by the court merely by way of illustration, argument, analogy, or suggestion, lacking the force of adjudication. Dicta does not have the force of law, as it is incidental to the main issue before the court. Directed Verdict: In a case in which the perty with the burden of proof has failed to present a prima facie case for jury consideration, the trial judge may order the entry of a Verdict without allowing the jury to consider it, because, as a matter of law, there can be only one such verdict. A directed verdict finding of not guilty may be appealed to a higher court, whereas a jury finding of not guil:y cannot. En Bane: All judges of a court sitting together. Appellate courts can consist of a dozen or more judges, but often they hear cases in panels of three judges. If a case is heard or re-heard by the full court, it is heard en banc. Enjoin: To require a person, by writ of injunction, to perform or to abstain from some specific act, Equity: A separate body of law developed in England in reaction to the inability of the common-law courts, in their strict adherence to rigid writs and forms of action, to consider or provide a remedy for every injury. The king therefore established the court of chancery or equity, to do justice between parties in cases where the common law would give inadequate redress. The principle of this :urisprudence is that equity will find a way to achieve a just result when legal procedure is inadequate. Equity and common-law courts are now merged in most jurisdictions. Ex Contractu: A common-law action arising out of contract or a cause of action arising from a breach of promise.Ex Delicto: A common-law action arising out of tort or a cause of action arising from breach of duty growing out of contract. Ex Ante: Before the fact or event in question has occurred. Ex Post: After the fact or event in question has occurred. Finding: Formal conclusion by a judge or regulatory agency on issues of fact; also, a conclusion by a jury regarding a fact. Usually findings of fact cannot be appealed once the lower court has made its determination. Holding: The legal principle to be drawn from the opinion of the court; the answer to the question posed before the court. Injunction: A court order prohibiting someone from doing some specified act or ‘commanding someone to undo some wrong cr injury, Generally, it is a preventive and protective remedy, aimed at future acts, and is not intended to redress past wrongs. Compare with declaratory judgment. Inter alia: Literally, among other things. A term used in pleadings, especially in reciting statutes, where the whole statute was not set forth at length. Judgment: The final disposition of a lawsuit. Judgment n.o.v.: Literally, a judgment non obstante verdicto, which translates as judgment notwithstanding the verdict; itis a judge’s decision to decide a case contrary to the verdict of the jury. Overrule: To make void. A judicial decision is said to be overruled when a later decision, rendered by the same court or by a superior court in the same system, expresses ‘a judgment upon the same question of law directly opposite to the earlier opinion, thereby depriving it of all authority as a precedent. Per Curiam Opinion: An unsigned opinion of the court; an opinion of the whole court, as distinguished from an opinion written by any one judge. Sometimes it denotes an opinion written by the chief justice or a brief announcement of the disposition of a case by a court not accompanied by a written opinion. Prima Facie Case: Literally, on the face of it. A case that is sufficient- that is, has the minimum amount of evidence necessary to allow it to continue in the judicial process and pass a motion for directed verdict. Such cases will prevail until contradicted and overcome by other evidence. Remand: To send a dispute back to the lower court where it was originally heard. Usually it is an appellate court that remands a case for proceedings in the trial court consistent with the appellate court’s ruling.Res Judicata: Literally, a thing decided. The rule that a final judgment rendered by a court constitutes an absolute bar to a subsequent action involving the same cause of action. Reverse: To make void a judgment of a lower court by an appellate court, or to change to a contrary or a former condition. Sine Qua Non: Literally, without which not. An indispensable requisite or condition. Stare Decisis: Akin to precedent, the doctrine that courts will follow principles of law Jaid down in previous cases. Summary Judgment: Disposition of a claim without trial when there is no dispute as to ‘material fact, or if only a question of law is involved, ‘Trespass: A form of action brought to recover damages for any injury to one’s person or property or relationship with another. Generally, trespass was understood to mean the redress of harm caused by the defendant's direct and immediate application of force against the person or property of the plaintiff. Compare with trespass on the case. ‘Trespass on the Case: In common law, the form of action adapted to the recovery of damages for some injury resulting to a party which is the indirect or secondary consequence of defendant's act. Such action is the ancestor of the present day action for negligence. Otherwise known as “case.” Writ: A written judicial order to perform a specified act or to institute an action at common law. Historically, in order to commence most actions, plaintiffs had to obtain the appropriate kind of writ. Trespass and trespass on the case are the two writs that covered most of the harms actionable within the common-law system. Writ of Mandamus: A writ issued by a court ordering a public official to perform an act. Writ of Replevin: A writ issued by the court ordering recovery of a possession that has been wrongfully taken, Other References: http://www.law.harvard.edu/libr: american/oneLdictionary.html robert.harrison@ yale.edu (He has promised you really can ask him anything!)Basic Structure of the American Judiciary Taken from CHRISTOPHER G. WREN & JILL ROBINSON WREN, THE LEGAL RESEARCH MANUAL 6-10 (1986). ga Sources ofthe Law 7 ‘Common law. Court decisions are collected chronologically in vol umes called case reporters, and summarized by subject matter in refer- ‘ence works called case digests. Because the structure of the court sys- tem requires more detailed discussion (which ‘ollows shortly), case reporters and digests are treated more fully ater in this chapter. Atthis point, then, the relationship between governmental structure and legal researth sources is illustrated in Figure C. A further refinement: | the structure of the courts Effective legal research requires a further refinement of govern- ‘mental structure with respect to the judiciary. Wthin the court systems there are usually several levels, each of which performs a specific func- tion. The federal courts have three levels, as do many state courts: a trial level, an intermediate appeliate level, and a final appellate level. Figure D illustrates this arrangement. ‘tthe federal level, the trial courts are called United States District Courts. Each state has within its boundaries atleast one federal judicial district, and some states have several. The number of districts in a state is determined primarity by population and the geographic size of the state, For example, Massachusetts has only one federal judicial district, which covers the whole state and is called the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts. California, on the other hand, has four federal judicial districts, each of which covers a discrete geo- q ‘graphic region of the state. California's four disticts are known as the US. District Court for the Northern District of Calitomia, the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, the U.S. District Court for the ‘Southern District of California, andthe U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California. Federal intermediate appellate courts are known as United States Courts of Appeals. There are 13 federal Courts of Appeals, each of Which covers a particular geographical area known as a ‘circul.” There are 11 numbered circuits (First Circuit, Second Circuit, etc.) a circuit for the District of Columbia, and a circuit known as the Federal Circuit. Ex- cept for the D.C. Circuit, each Court of Appeals circuit encompasses several states. For example, the Tenth Circuit embraces Colorado, Kansas, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Utah, and Wyoming. The Federal Cir- cuit hears appeals from all U.S. District Courts in certain specialized kinds of cases. The map in Figure E shows the geographical organiza- tion of the United States Courts of Appeals.& The Legal Research Manual Final Appeliate ‘Court —_f{t Intermediate Appellate ‘Court t ‘rial Court, Figure D. Typical Court Structure ‘When a party to a lawsuit in a U.S. District Court wants to appeal that court's decision, the appeal normally goes to the U.S, Court of Ap- Peals covering that district. For example (as Figure E shows), if you Were involved in a lawsuit in a U.S. District Court in California and you ‘wanted to appeal the decision in your case, you would take your appeal to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. Similarly, a party in a lawsuit in a U.S. District Court in Oklahoma would take an appeal to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit The final appellate court in the federal court system is the Supreme Court of the United States. The U.S. Supreme Court hears appeals {rom decisions of the U.S. Courts of Appeals; from the highest appellate ‘court of each state (when a federal question is involved); and (on ex- tremely rare occasions) directly from U.S. District Courts. In certain lim- ited cases, the U.S. Supreme Court also has original jurisdiction and then acts as a trial court. State court structures vary from state to state. Many states have three levels, lke the federal system, although some have only two (a trial level and one appellate level). The names of the state cours differ ‘among the various states, too. For example, the highest courtin Massa ‘chusettsis called the “Supreme Judicial Court’; in New York, its known as the “Court of Appeals’; and in California, i's called the “Supreme Court” Regardless of the courts’ names, though, they perform essentially the same functions at both the state and federal levels. Trial courts de- cide what the facts in a given dispute are, and what those facts mean in terms of the law—for example, whether they mean guilt or innocence, and’ gui, what the penalty should be. Appellate courts review to see if The Thirteen Federal Judicial Circuits ‘Sources of the Law Figure E. Geographical Organization of U.S. Courts of Appeals ®10 TheLegal Research Manual Typical Court Federal State ‘Structure (example) (example) Final Appellate us. Wisconsin Court ‘Supreme Court ‘Supreme Court Intermediate US. Court ot Wisconsin Court Appellate ‘Appeals for the of Appeals Court ‘9th Circuit | ‘rial Court USS. Distict Court Dane County forthe Central District CiroutCourt of California Figure F. Comparative Examples of Federal and State Court Struc- tures the trial judge correctly applied the relevant points of law to the facts determined at the trial level; except in rare cases, appellate courts do ot re-evaluate or re-determine findings of fact made at the trial level The structure ofthe federal court system and many state court sys- tems is shown schematically in Figure F. Case reporters Court decisions are compiled chronologically by date of issuance and published in volumes called case reporters. Federal courts. Each level of the federal courts has at least one ‘case reporter for its decisions. Cases decided by the Unted States Su- preme Court are collected and published in a series of books called United States Reports (abbreviated “U.S."), which is the official, ie., government-approved, reporter of these decisions. In addition, there are two unofticial reporters: West Publishing Company publishes the ‘Supreme Court Reporter ("S. Ct), and Lawyers Cooperative Publish- ing Company publishes the United States Supreme Court Reports, Lawyers’ Edition ("L. Ed.” and “L. Ed. 2d"). These unofficial reporters Contain everything in the official reporter, plus some helpful editorial fea- tures added by the publishers’ in-house staffs. Strictly speaking, United States Reports is the only official, authoritative reporter of U.S. Su- “"L, Ed. 2" rors tothe second series ofthis Lawyers Cooperative pubation, Legal publishers trequenty divide continuing nes of pubscatans into consecutvely numbered se- "ies, simply to break them into more manageabie sets o books. naman ton li preme Court opinions; the able and widely used by United States Court c in the Federal Reporter, porter contains opinions as “F.". The second serie andis abbreviated "F.2d" From 1880 to 1932, | ported along with U.S. C ‘ond series of Federal Reg have been collected in a Supp.” In addition, sinot (those dealing with proce trict Courts) have been pt instead of Federal Suppl In 1894, West publis! tive supplement to Fede, of the United States Cou tween 1789 and 1880, w Editorial exigencies com) Cases alphabetically by decision's issuance. Finally, there are 0: United States Court of | reported in the federal r peals, andthe Supreme majority of lawyers and j ence, a list appears at t porters indicating all the« ume. Figure G shows the respective reporters. ‘State courts. Decis reporters. Each state h court, and some states states also have separ courts, and a few states the larger a state's pop. "in adtion to these ropc printedin United States Law V publication known as"oosele: