INTRODUCTION TO LAW
BILL COVINGTON
640-1552/329-3608
M/W 3:30-5:50
Room 239 Snohomish Hall
What Is Law?
Law-a set of rules and regulations the
observance of which can be enforced in
court

Purpose to regulate human behavior, promote
societal stability and to allow persons and
institutions to know their rights and obligations
in a given situation
Court-a tribunal established by government
to enforce the law
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What Is Law?
Courts exist on federal, state and local level
 Federal courts-enforce rights granted by
United States Constitution, acts of United
States Congress and decisions of federal courts
 State courts-enforce rights granted by state
constitution, acts of state legislature and
decisions of state courts
 Local courts-enforce rights granted by local
charter and laws passed by local legislative
body
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General Information
Course-Introduction to Law (Legal 200)
Instructor-William Covington
Room 239 Snohomish Hall
 425-640-1552
 Office hours Mondays and Wednesdays 3:30 to
5:50
 Prefer telephonic communication

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What We Will Be Studying
American legal system which includes
 Bodies which make laws (legislatures)
 Bodies which interpret and enforce laws (courts)
 Emphasis shall be placed on types of courts, their
powers, how courts make decisions etc.
 Laws themselves which include
 Constitutional law; Statutory law; Regulations and
Case law
 Close examination laws of torts and of property
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Text
”Introduction To Law And The Legal
System” 8th edition by Frank Schubert
Suggested Supplemental Materials
 “Law Dictionary” by Steven Gifis
 “Legal Research In A Nutshell” by
Morris Cohen
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What We Will Do In First Two Sessions
General overview of course
Expectations of instructor; of students
Review assignment sheets
Discuss grading
Answer questions
Lecture on briefing cases; use of law library
Law library tour
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Question?
ALL STUDENTS TO ANSWER
FOLLOWING QUESTION.
What Basic Information About Courts
And The Court System Does A Person
Need In Order To Be A Good Paralegal?
List three or four items
 Be prepared to share your answers.

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What Course Will Cover
Chapter One-define law, discuss where law comes
from, what it does, general definitions; due
process clause; equal protection clause
Chapter Three-judicial system (federal, state) and
portions of two-ethics
Chapter Five-limits on ability to sue
Chapter Six-judicial decision making, precedent
MIDTERM EXAMINATION
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What Course Will Cover
Chapter Seven-remedies (legal, equitable)
Chapter Eleven-law of torts (intentional,
negligence, strict liability)
Chapter Twelve-property, types, ownership
interests
FINAL EXAMINATION (All examinations are
take home and essay)
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What I Hope To Accomplish
Course Will Not Make You Lawyers
Course Aims To Do Three Things
RE-DEFINE WORDS
 TEACH RULES AND PRINCIPLES
 HONE PROBLEM SOLVING SKILLS

Remember To Express Yourself Using
Legal Terms And Expressions
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Keys To Being Good Instructor
Pass on knowledge
Provide new skills and insights (research,
briefing and improve presentation abilities)
Interesting (Socratic method)
Punctuality
Personal background
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Keys To Being Successful Student
Willingness to learn (tackle tough problems)
Attendance (no extra copies)
 Class cancellation policy
Complete assignments in timely manner (typed,12
point font, double spaced, no team work)
Ask questions/give feedback (the dumb questions
are the ones which are not asked)
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Use Of Web Site
Contains all homework assignments, tests
and some of the handouts
Will contain all overhead slides which shall
be made available after presented in class
Contact me with any questions or should
there be problems accessing site
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Grading
1.0-4.0 (quality of work, appearance, clarity
of analysis, accuracy, use of language)

See syllabus re what constitutes grade of A
Midterm and final examination (take home)
Seven assignment sheets (two are optional)
No extra credit (attorney interview and
special research exercise)
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Grading
Midterm and final examination each count
1/3 of final grade and
Three highest graded assignment sheets
collectively count for 1/3 of final grade
Missing papers or assignments displace
assignment sheet at grade of zero
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Grading
Possibly up to four quizzes-in class, but will not
be pre-announced
Grade of seventy five percent or more will add
one point to the final grade; less than seventy five
percent neutral, no impact
 Missing quiz or quizzes will result in point
reductions (one point for first quiz, two points
for each additional quiz missed)
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Analysis Of Assignment Sheet
Did you read chapter
Briefing of cases (remember chapter and
topic being studied)
Five short questions (IRAC method-issue,
rule, analysis, conclusion)
Essay (remember IRAC)
Library research
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Answering Questions
IRAC (use this as a guide)
Expect that important information may be
missing (identity it, explain importance)
Remember need for proper use of language
i.e.grammar and spelling
Provide a full story for reader (answer
questions before they are asked)
Proofread prior to turning in assignment
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Answering Questions
IRAC Guidelines
Issue-What are the essential background facts
(facts which lead to this issue arising)?
 Rule-Synopsis of the applicable law
(summarize applicable law, do not quote law
verbatim unless absolutely necessary)
 Analysis-Apply rule to facts (show thought
process leading to answer)
 Conclusion-Answer

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Review Of Model Answers
Question-Lawsuit between former business
partners, one partner succeeds in winning
judgment for many thousands of dollars, seeks
writ of garnishment to collect money awarded by
court.
 Judgment-Court award of money to party to
lawsuit making that party a judgment creditor
and other party judgment debtor
 Garnishment-court order directing 3rd parties
who owe judgment debtor money to pay
judgment creditor
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Review Of Model Answers
Problems with poor answer
 1) no background information, 2) does not
describe
applicable Washington, law 3)
incomplete and 4) there is a possible mistake in
the fee amount-we do not know if this case is in
district or superior court
Problems with mediocre answer
 1) insufficient information re what is required
for writ, 2) assumption re what court can hear
case, 3) conclusion may not be supported by
facts
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Review Of Model Answers
Virtues of good answer
 1) follows IRAC guidelines, 2) identifies
missing information and explains its
importance (what court may hear case), 3)
draws a sound conclusion
Take your time in answering questions, be sure
answer is supported by materials in book, from
handouts or lecture and be sure to
review/proofread
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Briefing Cases
Briefing Defined-Isolating and identifying
most important elements of a case
Purpose-Helps boost analytic ability

Skill that takes good deal of time to develop,
don’t expect to master it in this course
For this course very important to keep in
mind chapter and topic being reviewed
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Many Correct Ways To Brief Case
(Varies from firm to firm)
Title/Heading (parties, where to find full
text of court’s opinion)
Facts (what took place)
Question and Answer
Reasoning (why court ruled in a particular
manner)
Holding (lesson case teaches)
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Briefing Cases-The Details
Title names of parties, where to find full
text of court’s opinion
Facts only those which are most important,
ask what facts did case “turn upon”
Q and A Try to make this a yes or no
answer (ask what is key question case asks,
what is principle being addressed)
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Briefing Cases-The Details
Reasoning Why did court make the decision, what
was motivation, philosophical rationale
Holding What is lesson case stands for (in one or
two sentences describe major principle that has
been taught)
 Be aware on occasion holding and reasoning
can be very similar if not the same
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Library Research-Basics
Whoever provides best evidence (facts) and
presents best arguments (laws which support their
side) usually wins-aim is do this quickly and well
 Investigator finds facts, Researcher finds law
What is a good researcher?
 Uses basic tools well (codes/statute books,
digests and reporters)
 Knowledge of all tools (electronic also)
 Can use tools quickly and thoroughly
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Library Research-Basics
Basic tools
 Statute/code books (constitutional and statutory
law)
 Digests (access to common law)
 Reporters (verbatim text of common law)
Legal research is changing due to electronic access
tools-be aware of this, good tools include
 Internet Legal Resources, FindLaw
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Challenges For Novice Researcher
Need to find laws which are “on point” (apply
directly to case being argued)
Legal language can be difficult to understand,
written in obscure form
Use of indices (key search word may be difficult
to find)
PRACTICE, PRACTICE, PRACTICE things
become much easier with time
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Hierarchy Of Authority
Constitutional law-Statutory lawRegulations-Case or common law
Constitutional-supreme or controlling law

1) establishes government, 2) divides power w/
other levels of government, 3) dictates how
laws are made, 4 grants basic rights to citizens
Statutory-made by legislature
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Hierarchy Of Authority
Regulations-rules passed by administrative
agencies
Case/common-look to past court decisions
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Hierarchy Of Authority
Constitutional law supersedes statutory law,
statutory law supersedes regulations
supersede case or common law
Federal law supersedes state (with some
exceptions that are constitutional)
State law supersedes local law
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Hierarchy Of Authority
Always ask supervising attorney what sorts of
laws one should be looking for, ask what is
desired scope of research
 This is very important as time is money in the
legal business
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Relevant Legal Texts
Constitutional and statutory law
United States-USCA or USCS
 State-Revised Code of Washington
 Local-Look for name of jurisdiction and word
“Code” or “Statutes”

Regulations
Federal-Code of Federal Regulations
 State-Washington Administrative Code

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Relevant Legal Texts
Digests (access tool for common law)
 Federal (Supreme Court Digest, Federal Digest)
 State (Regional Digests, State Digests)
Reporters
 See handout
 Keep in mind there are official and unofficial
reporters (e.g. Washington Reports and Pacific
Reporter)
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Using Statute/Code Books
Contents-Verbatim text of constitution and
statutes currently in force
Coverage-Examine cover of volume
Annotations-Explanatory notes and other
materials designed to help researcher
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Using Statute/Code Books
Annotations
 Legislative History
 Cross References/Collateral References
 Library references (digests, law reviews,
ALR, encyclopedias etc.).
 Notes Of Decision
 Forms
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Using Statute/Code Books
Generally organized by title, chapter and
section (United States Code, some states are
exceptions)
Structure of code/statute books
Constitutional volumes generally first
 Subject matter volumes (called titles) second
 General index usually at end

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Using Statute/Code Books
How to use to research a problem
First go to General Index
 Find a key word which refers one to title,
chapter and section
 Go to volume containing that title, chapter and
section
 Review materials-see if they are “on point”
 ALWAYS CHECK POCKET PART

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Using Digests
Digest defined a tool that helps one find
case/common law (different from reporter which
contains verbatim text-digest is access tool-only
contains case abstracts)
Always remember when common law used if
 No on point constitutional or statutory law; or
 Unclear how constitutional or statutory law
applies
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Using Digests
What is a digest Set of volumes which classifies
decisions of a court or courts alphabetically by
subject matter providing “abstracts” of relevant
decisions
Under each topic are sub-topics called key
numbers and below each key number are series of
case abstracts which provide:
 1) court that decided case, 2) case name, 3)
description of what was decided, 4) citation
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Using Digests
Examine cover of book to tell what courts are
covered by this digest
 Digests covering federal courts: 1) Supreme
Court Digest, 2) Federal Digest
 Digests covering state courts: 1) State digest
(Washington Digest), 2) Regional digest
(Pacific Reporter)
 State digest contains more state cases and
should be used for research; Regional digest
contains fewer state cases, used for
comparison purposes
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Using Digests
Organization of Digests
Topical volumes come first (examine scope
note and analysis for topic being researched)
 Table of Cases Digested comes next
 Words and Phrases (this may be combined with
Table of Cases Digested)
 Defendant-Plaintiff Table follows (eliminated
in newer sets, incorporated in Table of Cases)
 Descriptive Word Index (usually at end of set)

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Using Digests
How to use
Examine Descriptive Word Index and find
reference to Topic and Key Number
 Go to volume containing that topic and key #
 Examine cases and determine if relevant
 If not applicable return to first step
 If applicable ALWAYS CHECK POCKET
PART

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Using Reporters
Contain verbatim text of court’s opinion (as
opposed to digests which have abstracts) usually
published annually
Normally used when one seeks to use case and/or
language from case in support of one’s position
Look at cover of volume which identifies court
cases contained and period of time in which those
cases were decided
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Using Reporters
Contents of typical state reporter
Court hearing cases, time period cases heard
 List of judges sitting during this time period
 Table of cases reported
 Actual cases
 Unreported cases/New court rules
 Topical index to reported cases

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Using Reporters
Contents of typical federal reporter
Court hearing cases, time period covered
 List of sitting judges
 Table of cases reported
 Statutes and Rules/Words and Phrases
construed or defined in volume
 Actual cases
 Key Number Index (reference to digests)

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Using Reporters
Contents of a reported opinion
File name, date case argued
 Name of case
 Head notes
 Case history
 Names of attorneys arguing case
 Author of court’s opinion
 Opinion of court (Dissent, if any, follows)

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Using Reporters
Use reporters for following:
To verify information contained in digests is
valid (abstract does indeed reflect what is
contained in court’s opinion)
 To find language in support of one’s case which
can be inserted in a legal memorandum or brief

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