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Interactive Quiz for ALT-12e, Chapter 1
Chapter 1 — Introduction to Law and Legal Reasoning
1.
One of the oldest and most significant schools of jurisprudential thought is:
a. the administrative law school.
b. the environmental law school.
c. the legal realists.
d. the natural law school.
Answers:
a. Incorrect. Administrative law is a body of law consisting of the rules,
orders and decisions of administrative agencies. It is not a school of
jurisprudential thought.
b. Incorrect. Environmental law is a body of law consisting of all statutes
and regulations protecting the environment. It is not a school of
jurisprudential thought.
c. Incorrect. Legal realism is a significant school of jurisprudential thought
that became popular during the 1920s and 1930s, but it is not the
oldest school.
d. Correct. The natural law tradition traces its origins to early Greek and
Roman philosophical thought about the nature of law and its
relationship to the natural world and the human experience.
2.
The common law may be described as:
a. general legal principles that evolved over time through court decisions.
b. a body of rules governing the ownership of the oceans.
c. an index of opinions by law professors.
d. rules issued by an administrative agency.
Answers:
a. Correct. The common law, or judge-made law, is a set of general legal
principles that evolved over time through court decisions.
b. Incorrect. The common law deals with issues other than the ownership
of the oceans.
c. Incorrect. The common law developed from the decisions of judges,
not from the opinions of law professors.
d. Incorrect. Rules issued by an administrative agency would be
considered statutory (regulatory) law, not part of the common law.
3.
Remedies are best described as:
a. position papers.
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b. legal principles that underlie previous court decisions.
c. a statute against theft.
d. the legal means used to recover a right or redress a wrong.
Answers:
a. Incorrect. Position papers are concerned with public policy, not with the
proper recourse in a lawsuit.
b. Incorrect. This answer describes the common law generally, not
remedies.
c. Incorrect. You may seek a remedy if someone has stolen your
property, but laws against theft are not the same as remedies for theft.
d. Correct. Remedies are the legal means used to recover a right or
redress a wrong.
4.
A cornerstone of both the American and English legal systems is:
a. the doctrine of res nullius.
b. the doctrine of stare decisis.
c. the doctrine of plumbago.
d. the doctrine of judicial unfitness.
Answers:
a. Incorrect. Res nullius refers to land, or other resources, that are owned
by no one.
b. Correct. Stare decisis, the doctrine of relying on precedent, is a
cornerstone of both the American and English legal systems.
c. Incorrect. Plumbago is a plant.
d. Incorrect. Presumably we want judges to be fit, not unfit.
5.
The IRAC method of legal reasoning DOES NOT include which of the
following steps?
a. Developing cutting-edge public policy.
b. Ascertaining the facts and issues of the case.
c. Determining the rule of law that applies in the case.
d. Applying the rule of law to the facts and issues of the case.
Answers:
a. Correct. The IRAC method of legal reasoning is not concerned with
developing public policy.
b. Incorrect. A person utilizing the IRAC method must ascertain facts and
issues of the case.
c. Incorrect. A person utilizing the IRAC method must determine the rule
of law that applies in the case.
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d. Incorrect. A person utilizing the IRAC method must apply the rule of
law to the facts and issues of the case.
6.
Ordinances may be considered:
a. administrative law.
b. stare decisis.
c. statutory law.
d. uniform law.
Answers:
a. Incorrect. Ordinances are statutory, not administrative law.
b. Incorrect. Stare decisis is a legal doctrine, not a type of law.
c. Correct. Ordinances are statutes and thus are classified as statutory
law.
d. Incorrect. Ordinances vary tremendously and are not uniform.
7.
The Uniform Commercial Code (UCC) has been adopted, in whole or in
part:
a. by no states; it is simply too complex.
b. by all states, in whole or in part.
c. by the southern states only, because of its focus on agricultural issues.
d. by half of the states.
Answers:
a. Incorrect. The UCC has been adopted, in whole or in part, by all states.
b. Correct. All states have adopted at least parts of the UCC.
c. Incorrect. The UCC does not focus on agriculture, and it has been
adopted, in whole or in part, by all states.
d. Incorrect. All states have adopted the UCC, in whole or in part.
8.
Civil law may best be described as:
a. the law that governs relations between persons and between persons
and the government.
b. the common law of taxes.
c. federal, not state, law.
d. the law governing the relations among nations.
Answers:
a. Correct. Civil law governs relations between persons and between
persons and the government.
b. Incorrect. There is no common law of taxes.
c. Incorrect. Much civil law is state law.
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d. Incorrect. The law governing relations between and among nations is
international law.
9.
When you are engaged in finding the law, a citation means:
a. a speeding ticket.
b. a reference to a publication in which a legal authority can be found.
c. the location of a trial court.
d. a way to jump bail.
Answers:
a. Incorrect. Police officers may give you a citation if you’re caught
speeding, but the word has a different meaning when it relates to legal
research.
b. Correct. A citation is a reference to a legal authority, such as a case, a
statute, an ordinance, or a law review.
c. Incorrect. A citation is not the location of a trial court.
d. Incorrect. A citation is not a way to jump bail.
10.
Rules and regulations that have been issued by federal administrative
agencies are initially published in:
a. the Federal Register.
b. the United States Code.
c. the Supreme Court Reporter.
d. the New York Times.
Answers:
a. Correct. This publication contains the first publication of all rules and
regulations that have been issued by federal administrative agencies.
b. Incorrect. The United States Code contains federal statutory law.
c. Incorrect. The Supreme Court Reporter contains decisions rendered by
the United States Supreme Court.
d. Incorrect. Even the New York Times cannot report on all federal
administrative agency rules and regulations.