Legal Support Legal Research and Filing 1 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: What is 'Westlaw' used for in legal research?
- Searching case law, statutes, regulations, and other legal materials (Correct answer)
- Filing court documents electronically
- Managing client billing
- Conducting background checks
Correct answer: Searching case law, statutes, regulations, and other legal materials
Westlaw is a comprehensive online legal research database that provides access to case law, statutes, regulations, law review articles, and other legal materials.
Question 2: What does 'Shepardizing' a case mean?
- Verifying that a case is still good law using citation research tools (Correct answer)
- Finding cases from a specific court
- Summarizing a case's holding
- Reading a case's dissenting opinion
Correct answer: Verifying that a case is still good law using citation research tools
Shepardizing refers to using Shepard's Citations (on LexisNexis) to verify whether a case is still valid law by checking if it has been overruled, distinguished, or criticized.
Question 3: What is the 'hierarchy of legal authority' in US law?
- Constitutional law > statutes > regulations > case law (Correct answer)
- Case law > statutes > regulations > constitutional law
- Regulations > statutes > constitutional law > case law
- Statutes > constitutional law > case law > regulations
Correct answer: Constitutional law > statutes > regulations > case law
In the US legal system, the Constitution is the supreme law, followed by federal and state statutes, then agency regulations, with case law interpreting all of these sources.
Question 4: What is 'PACER' used for by legal professionals?
- Accessing federal court case records and electronic filings (Correct answer)
- Legal research across state courts
- Attorney licensing verification
- Court fee payment processing
Correct answer: Accessing federal court case records and electronic filings
PACER (Public Access to Court Electronic Records) is the federal judiciary's online system that provides public access to court dockets and documents from federal district, appellate, and bankruptcy courts.
Question 5: What is a 'headnote' in a published court opinion?
- A numbered summary of a key legal point from the case (Correct answer)
- The title of the case
- The judge's biographical information
- A footnote in the opinion
Correct answer: A numbered summary of a key legal point from the case
Headnotes are numbered editorial summaries appearing at the beginning of a published court opinion that identify and briefly summarize each legal point addressed in the decision.
Question 6: What is 'primary authority' in legal research?
- The law itself, including constitutions, statutes, regulations, and court decisions (Correct answer)
- Law review articles and treatises
- Legal encyclopedias
- Bar association opinions
Correct answer: The law itself, including constitutions, statutes, regulations, and court decisions
Primary authority consists of the law itself—constitutions, statutes, regulations, and binding court decisions—as opposed to secondary sources that merely explain or analyze the law.
Legal Support Legal Research and Filing 1
What is 'Westlaw' used for in legal research?