Chap 1: Case Problem-Source of Law
AOL, LLC, mistakenly made public the personal information of 650,000 of its members. The
members filed a suit in California, alleging violations of federal law and California state law. The
member agreement between AOL and its members included a provision declaring Virginia as
the location of any court dispute. AOL asked the court to dismiss the suit on the basis of that
"forum-selection" clause in its member agreement. Under a previous decision of the United
States Supreme Court, a forum-selection clause is unenforceable "if enforcement would
contravene a strong public policy of the forum in which suit is brought." California courts
previously have declared in other cases that clauses similar to the AOL clause contravene a
strong public policy.
-In deciding whether to dismiss the suit, the court in California first should look to
________ sources of law, or sources that establish the law.
Primary
-Two important resources for the court in making this decision are the state and federal
_______ , which outline the powers, and limits to those powers, of the state and federal
governments.
Constitutions
-Another resource for the court are the ______ passed by the United States _______
and the state ________ .
statutes
congress
legislatures
-If the court cannot find any sources of law that establish or direct their decision to
dismiss the suit, the court should then turn to _________ sources of law for guidance.
Secondary
-If the California court turns to prior court opinions to determine if it should dismiss the
suit, it is looking for ______
Precedent
-The system of prior court opinions is called ______
Case law
-The California court will follow the decision of the United States Supreme Court
because of the doctrine of ________ . The United States Supreme Court decision is
_________ on the California courts.
Stare Decisis
binding
-Because of the United States Supreme Court opinion and the prior California cases
regarding clauses of this type, the California court _________ enforce the clause in the
contract.
will not
-Because of the precedent set, the California court _______ dismiss the suit and the
case will be heard in _______ .
will not
california
*What if the United States Supreme Court had not issued the prior opinion and
California courts also had not decided that those clauses contravene a strong public
policy? This case would be a case of _________ in California.
first impression
-Without the prior guidance, the California courts likely would look to ______ authorities
to help them reason through a decision.
persuasive