PARALEGAL - PACE - Legal Research --Analyzing Case law

NO, the format used in the various case reporters differs.

The citation is found just above or below the case title (or style).

The docket number follows the case title.It is the number assigned by the court clerk to the case when a case is initially filed.

The date of decision usually follows the docket number.

A syllabus is a brief summary, or synopsis, of the case, its facts, its issues, and the court's decision. In OFFICIAL REPORTERS, the courts prepare the syllabi; in UNNOFFICIAL REPORTERSS, the publishers prepare the syllabi. While the sllabus is a helpful research tool, it is inot a substitute for reading the case.

Unnofficial reporters often use headnotes--short paragraphs that summarize rules of law discussed in a case. IN the West reporters, they correspond to the West key-number system.

Cases usually contain the names of the lawyers (COUNSEL) representing the parties.

The name of the judge or justice who worte the opinion is included in the published report, just before the court's opinion begins.

The formal OPINION of the court contains the ANALYSIS and DECISION of the judge or justices hearing and deciding the case. The main body of the court's opinion applies the law to the fact of the case to reach a conclusion on the issue.

The majoridy opinion is the decisioh agreed to by a majority of the judges or justices deciding a case.

In a court case, an appellate court specifies how it will dispose of the case---whete it will AFFIRM or REVERSE or REMAND the case.

Understand the
1 WHAT
2 WHY
3 UNDERLYING LEGAL REASONING

Look for guide posts (roman numerals I, II, III)
Look for a dissenting or concurring opinion--does anything distinguish it from the majority opinion?

THE HOLDING is the statement(s) that are legally binding.

The part of the opinion that is not legally binding - which is usually the remainder of the opinion after the Holding is called the DICTA. This is the non-binding statement.

Legal professionals use BRIEFING A CASE to analyze a case and break it down into component parts.

A brief helps researcher:
1 read the case
2 analyze the case
3 understand the case
4 break case down into component parts

A citation in a case brief includes both the case name and the full citation.

Facts include (a)reasons for the lawsuit (who did what to whom) and (bz0 the identiy and arguments of plaintiff and defendent.

In briefing a case, include the procedure--the judicial history of the case--which courts it has been thourhg and what each court decided.

In summarizing a case be sure and concisely state the questions before the court.

The decision is how the court answered the case - yes or no -if possible.

The reasoning briefly summarizes the court's reasons for arriving at its decision, including brief references to the law relied on.

The holding succinctly states the rule of law for which the case stands.

FEDERAL STATUTE - slip laws -- first official publicatios of statutes. Slop laws can be identified by thier public law number, or P. L. number-- a number assigned toech state on the completion of the legislative process.

Federal Statutes:
Session laws are a compilaton of sttues passed during a legislative session. The sessio laws of the U.S. Congress are found in the UNITED STATES STATUTES AT LARGE.

Federal statutes:
The final form in which a statute is published is called a CODE. Codes arrange statutes by topic, and most codes are updated through POCKET PARTS or by loose-leaf services.

U.S.C.
organizes statutes into 50 subjects, called titles, and subdivides each title into chapters (or sections) and subchapters. The U.S.C. is the OFFICIAL PUBLICATION of federal statutes.

U.S.C.A.
United States Code Annotated.

U.S.C.S. Untited States Code Service

State codes my be called codes, revisions, compilations, consolidations, general statutes, depeding on state preferences and they follow a pattern similar to the U.S.C. of being aranged by subject. Some state codes designate subjects by number, some by name.

U.S.C.

Some states also have anoottd codes published privately. They follow the same numbering system as the official codes, but provide outlines, indexes, references to case law (or annotations), legislative history, and other documents discussing the statute. The are also updated by pocket parts.

1. Reading the language of the statute
2. Interpreting the meaning of the statute