Legal Skills Cheat Sheet PDF

Preview

Summary

Download Legal Skills Cheat Sheet PDF

Description

Dictionaries Traditional Black’s Law – definitions of legal terms Words and Phrases – includes citations from cases where the definition is derived from American Law Reports ALR 1-6TH ALR Federal Lawyer’s Edition

Legal Encyclopedias Am. Jur. – explains the national law CJS Cal. Jur – explains the state law Witkins – summary of California Law Wikipedia Legal Periodicals Legal Newspapers  daily journal Legal Magazines  ABA Journal

Looseleaf // Reporter Services Family Law Reporter, School Law Reporter, Privacy Law Reporter, U.S. Law Week Websites

Law Reviews  CW Law Review Primary Sources Constitution Statutes Cases Rules and Regulations Treaties

Legal Treatises Nutshell Hornbooks Scholarly Specific Practice Guides (2 types) Litigation oriented  Am. Jur. Pleading and Practice, Am. Jur. Trials, Am. Jur. Proof of Facts, Causes of Action State specific  Cal. Practice & Pleading, Cal. Points & Authorities, Cal. Civ. Practice, Cal. Crim. Defense Manual Transaction oriented  Am. Jur. Legal Forms, West’s Legal Forms Digests/Finder California Digests (1st and 2nd series) Federal Practice Digests Decennials Westlaw Lexis

Secondary Sources Legal dictionaries Legal Encyclopedias Law Reviews and Journals Treatises, Nutshells, Hornbooks, Deskbooks Manuals, Practice Guides Jury Instructions Restatement of Torts Uniform Acts Federal Statutes USC USCA USCS Code of Federal Regulations Federal Register CALIFORNIA SPECIFIC California Constitution (contains 2 annotated codes) 1) West Cal Code  West Publishing 2) Deerings  Published by Lexis West Cal Annotated

State Statutes West’s California Annotated Codes Deering’s California Code of Regulations Updating Sources (Shepard’s, Lexis, Westlaw) Federal Notes Federal Supplement Cases from federal district courts Which court decided the case Few cases end up in the Fed Supp. Persuasive authority Court of appeals can affirm or reverse it then can be reviewed by the US Supreme Court

Unofficial Reporters Pacific Reporter Cal Reporter Supreme Court Reporter  frequently updated US Supreme Court Lawyer’s Edition - case summaries are really good Official Reporters US Reports  official reports for the Supreme Court We cite NO OTHER book Possible to find that cases in the report are no longer good law Only reporter we vouch for Only cases from the US Supreme Court Regional Reporters – how many are there?  for 23 states Cal ReportSSS  California’s official reporter - cites SC cases

Federal Reporter - must include the circuit number in the citation in the parentheticals AMENDMENTS 11 – 27 US BILLS OF RIGHTS  ORIGINAL 10 AMENDMENTS 1ST  FREEDOM OF SPEECH 2ND  RIGHT TO BEAR ARMS 3RD  PREVENTS GOVERNMENT FROM FORCING HOMEOWNERS TO ALLOW SOLDIERS TO USE THEIR HOMES PRIOR TO REVOLUTIONARY WAR, LAW GAVE BRITISH SOLDIERS RIGHT TO TAKE OVER PRIVATE HOMES 4TH  BARS UNREASONABLE SEARCH AND SEIZURE 5TH  RIGHT AGAINST SELF-INCRIMINATION AND CANNOT BE IMPRISONED WITHOUT DUE PROCESS (RIGHT TO A FAIR PROCEDURES AND TRIALS) 6TH  RIGHT TO A SPEEDY PUBLIC TRIAL, TRIAL BY JURY AND RIGHT TO A LAWYER AND WTINESSES 7TH  RIGHT TO A JURY TRIAL IN FEDERAL CIVIL CASES 8TH  BARS EXCESSIVE BAIL AND FINES AND CRUELA DN UNUSUAL PUNISHMENT 9TH  OTHER RIGHTS OF THE PEOPLE 10TH  POWERS RESERVED TO THE STATES

11TH  LAWSUITS AGAINST STATES 12TH  PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS 13TH  ABOLITION OF SLAVERY 14TH  CIVIL RIGHTS // DUE PROCESS 15TH  BLACK SUFFRAGE 16TH  INCOME TAXES 17TH  SENATORIAL ELECTIONS 18TH  PROHIBITION OF LIQUOR 19TH  WOMEN’S SUFFRAGE 20TH  TERMS OF OFFICE 21ST  REPEALS OF PROHIBITION 22ND  TERM LIMITS FOR THE PRESIDENCY 23RD  WASHING D.C. SUFFRAGE 24TH  ABOLITION OF POLL TAXES 25TH  PRESIDENTIAL SUCCESSION 26TH  18 YR OLD SUFFRAGE 27TH  CONGRESSIONAL PAY RAISES

Questions to know How many districts courts are there? 94 in total // 4 in California How many justices are needed for Writ of Certiorari?  4 justices (remember rule of 4) BUT, sometimes SCOTUS will deny Certiorari, why? -

Circuit split Pending final action Discretionary review Writ of Habeus Corpus

How many circuit courts are there?  13 // CA is part of the 9th circuit How many supreme court justices are there?  9 Difference between AmJur and CJS? The organization of Am. Jur.2d reflects case law treatment with a greater emphasis on statutes. The organization of C.J.S. focuses more on the subject matter of case law. **Both are tools used at the beginning of your research when you know very little about a topic....