LEB 320F Final Exam Questions and
Answers Latest Update
What is law? - Answer-A binding custom or practice of a community; a rule of conduct
or action prescribed or formally recognized as binding or enforced by a controlling
authority
Domain of Law - Answer-Basically everything....
medicine
banking
grumpy neighbors (contracts, property)
intellectual property
government (what they can and cannot do)
family (custody battles, divorce)
Areas of Law - Answer-administrative, agency, constitutional, contracts, corporate, torts,
criminal, evidence, family, intellectual property, property, sales, wills and estates
(generally attorney's specialize in one of these areas)
Requisites of a legal system - Answer-1. Certainty (stability)
2. Flexibility (technology)
3. Knowability (lawyers- need to know the laws and have access to individuals who are
experts)
4. Reasonableness (akin to justice)- "rules reflect and adapt to changing views of
morality and justice
Classifications of law - Answer-Federal Law and State law
common law and statutory law
Common Law (aka "judge made law" aka "case law") - Answer-... all the rules and
principles currently existing in any state, regardless of their historical origin, that result
from judicial decisions in those areas of law where legislatures have not enacted
comprehensive statutes.
- subjects of contracts, torts, and agency are dominated by common law rules
statutory law - Answer-rules that have been formally adopted by legislative bodies
rather than by the courts.
- state and federal constitutions
- municipal ordinances
-treaties
,Civil legal disputes - Answer-- most of our time will be focused on civil issues
plaintiff (P) - Answer-person bringing action
Defendant (D) - Answer-person/entity against whom P is making a claim
Civil laws - Answer-laws that spell out the rights and duties existing among individuals,
business firms and sometimes even government agencies. Contract law, tort law, and
sales law all fall within the civil category
Criminal Law - Answer-statutes by which a state or the federal government prohibits
specified kinds of conduct and which additionally provide for the imposition of fines or
imprisonment on persons convicted of violating them
****always brought by the government****
misdemeanor or felony - Answer-felony is usually defined as a crime for which the
legislature has provided a maximum penalty of either imprisonment for more than one
year or death, as in the case of murder, arson, or rape
- some actions can be both civil or criminal (OJ Simpson not found guilty in criminal
case but found guilty in the civil case)
Law and Ethics - Answer--Law and Justice
-- what do most ppl usually want? (ppl usually want money, but not always)
-law of equity-injunctions
--imperfect system- a simple vase? sometimes it can be so much more than material
things (sentimental value) so they don't want money they want something else
-law and morals
--illegal = immoral? i.e. cheating is not illegal but it is immoral, or j-walking isn't really
immoral but it is illegal
Podias v. Mairs - Answer-Negligence--Duty--Nonfeasence--Exceptions
Case: D was drinking at the home of a friends. He drove with two other friends (D2 and
D3), all 18. D1 was driving; it was raining; the road was wet. D1 lost control of the car,
struck the motorcycle of P, and went over the guardrail. All Ds huddled around the car
and saw that P was lying in the roadway, and thought he was dead. D1told D3 that he
though D1 killed P. No one called for assistance, D1 called his girlfriend on D3's phone.
D2 placed 17 calls. There were 26 more calls on D3's phone. None were calls to
emergency assistance. All Ds decided to get back in the car and leave the scene. D2
told D1 not to bring him or D3 up. They drove until D1's car broke down and D2 & D3
ran into the woods (D1 hid in a bush for his girlfriend). Meanwhile, a motor vehicle
operated by another person ran over P who died as a result of injuries sustained in
these accidents.
,Rule: A reasonable jury could find that duty exists. reversed and remanded
Law and technology - Answer-weapons, privacy, medicine, transportation, artificial
intelligence
Adversarial system - Answer-Under the adversarial system, the parties themselves
(acting through their attorneys) research the law and find the develop the evidence.
They decide which issues are going to be presented, which legal arguments are going
to be made, which evidence should be gathered and presented, and how the evidence
is to be introduced in court. The trial judge does not make these decisions; indeed, the
judge normally takes no action unless a party specifically requests it. For example, of
one party's attorney attempts to introduce testimony or physical evidence that is not
legally admissible, the judge usually will not exclude the evidence unless the other
party's attorney makes and objection to the inclusion of that evidence, citing a specific
legal reason. If an attorney overlooks a relevant legal argument and fails to make it, the
judge normally will not take the initiative to include that argument in the legal analysis of
the case. Although the parties and their attorneys have primary control over the issues
and evidence, the trial judge obviously has the duty to exercise ultimate supervisory
authority over the entire process.
Attorney's fees - Answer-In our system, typically each party pays for their own attorney.
This is different than in many other countries where typically the loser pays. However, in
the US, in most breach of contract cases, the loser will pay as stipulated in the contract.
-practical consequence? ppl with money can hire the better lawyer and are at an
advantage
(our system benefits ppl with means)
Federal and State systems - Answer-- state systems- courts of limited jurisdiction (1),
general trial courts (2), appellate court (two levels) (3)
- federal court system- district courts(1), specialized courts(2), appellate courts
(Supreme Ct.) (3)
420- Coal memo we will not go after ppl smoking weed in states where it is illegal, under
trump it was about state rights (conservative view)
in 2019, the state of Texas made hemp legal (aka weed without thc), you have to test
hemp to determine if it has thc so under a certain amount they do not bother to test bc it
is under a certain amount, therefore under a certain amount you will not be prosecuted
Courts of limited jurisdiction - Answer--state court- limited in the types of cases they can
hold. Examples include justice of the peace courts, municipal courts, traffic courts,
probate courts (hearing matters of wills and decedents' estates), and domestic relations
courts (handling divorce, custody, and child support cases)
, General trial courts - Answer-state court- courts of "general jurisdiction", they are
empowered to hear all cases except those expressly assigned by statute to the courts
of limited jurisdiction. Virtually all important cases involving contract law, criminal law,
and corporation law, for example, originate in the general trial courts. In some states
these courts are called district courts (Texas), in other common plea courts, and in still
other superior courts.
Appellate courts - Answer-· (two levels)- trial courts must settle questions of both fact
and law, whereas appellate courts rule on questions of law only. Questions of fact are
"what happened" questions. Questions of law, by contrast, are "what is the rule
applicable to the facts?"
o Facts: did sarah or Jane tell the truth?
o Law: was there actually a "material breach"?
Federal supreme court - Answer-appeal not a matter or right - writ of certiorari
- do not have time to take every case
Pretrial proceedings - Answer-There are technical (process) things and there are
strategic things.
Pleading Stage- The complaint - Answer-The typical suit is commenced by the plaintiff,
through an attorney, filing a complaint (or petition) with the court having jurisdiction of
the case. The complaint sets fourth the plaintiff's version of the facts and end with a
"prayer" (request) for a certain remedy based on these facts. The plaintiff alleges those
facts that if ultimately proved by the evidence, will establish a legally recognized claim
against the defendant... IN most complaints, the remedy requested by the plaintiff is an
award of money damages to be paid by the defendant to compensate the plaintiff for his
or her loss. If the plaintiff seeks some other remedy, such as an injunction, it will be
requested in the complaint.
Motion to Dismiss - Answer-before filing an answer to the plaintiff's complaint, the
defendant can file a motion to dismiss, which is sometimes called a motion for
judgement on the pleadings. The defendant files such a motion if he she believes that
the plaintiff has no claim even if all the allegations in the complaint are true. In this
motion, the defendant asserts that the plaintiff has not even stated a "cause of action"-
that is, that even if the plaintiff's allegations are true (which the defendant is not
admitting), the law does not recognize such a claim. The motion does not refer to any
evidence but merely takes aim at the allegations made in the plaintiffs complaint.
-ruling can be appealed
The answer - Answer-if there is no motion to dismiss, or if one is filed by denied, the
defendant responds to the complaint by filing an answer. The answer may include
several components. One thing it usually contains is a denial of the plaintiff's
