Deck 2: The Role of Key Terms and Key Facts in Legal Research

Question 1

When determining the key facts in a client's case, it is necessary to determine the elements of the cause of action because the plaintiff must present facts that establish or prove the existence of each element.

Answer 1

True

Question 2

The determination of whether a court opinion is on point is governed completely by the similarity between the facts of the opinion and the facts of the client's case.

Answer 2

False

Question 3

A rule of law prescribes or directs action or forbearance.

Answer 3

True

Question 4

When determining the key facts in a client's case, list all the facts that may possibly be related to the cause of action, and if necessary err on the side of listing too many facts.

Question 5

Background facts also may be irrelevant facts.

Question 6

Key facts are the facts that give rise to the legal dispute.

Question 7

The outcome of the application of the law to the elements of a cause of action depends on the facts.

Question 8

Key terms may include key facts.

Question 9

Key facts are often referred to as ultimate facts.

Question 10

When determining the key facts in a court opinion, it is necessary to list all the facts possibly related or necessary to the holding.

Question 11

The rule of law and facts of a case are equally important in a legal dispute.

Question 12

The text recommends a four-step process for identifying the key facts in a court opinion.

Question 13

When a single fact is so significant that if it were changed, the outcome of the case would change, it is referred to as a primary key fact.

Question 14

In the text, background facts refer to those facts that are coincidental to the event but are not of significant legal importance in the case.

Question 15

A test to identify a key fact is to ask the question: "If this fact is changed, would the outcome of the application of the law be affected or changed?"

Question 16

A failure to conduct a proper interview may result in an ethical violation.

Question 17

In a lawsuit, a fact is information present in a case concerning someone's interpretation of what took place.

Question 18

There are three categories of key facts mentioned in the text.

Question 19

The text recommends a five-step process for identifying key facts in a client's case.

Question 20

In the text, irrelevant facts refer to those facts that give an overview of the factual events and provide the reader with the overall context within which the key facts occurred.

Question 21

The third step of the process for identifying the key facts in a court opinion is composed of three parts.

Question 22

When identifying the key facts in a court opinion:

A)when reading the opinion, keep in mind the question, "What was decided about which facts?"
B)list all possible facts related to the decision reached.
C)look to the holding.
D)all of the above
E)a and b