LRW EXAM PREP/COMPREHENSIVE STUDY
GUIDE/ACTUAL EXAM QUESTIONS WITH
ACCURATE SOLUTIONS/NEWEST UPDATE
Questions and Correct Answers/ Latest Update /
Already Graded
1. sources of law (5)
Ans: Case law, constitutions, statutes, administrative regulations, the executive
branch
Primary sources of law (7)
Ans: Actual laws; these include constitutions, statutes, case law/common law
(judicial opinions), regulations (executive), executive orders (executive),
Rules of procedure (legislative/judicial), treaties (executive/legislative)
Secondary Sources of Law (13)
© 2025/ 2026 | ® All rights reserved
, 2 | Page
Ans: • Encyclopedias- (AmJur2d and C.J.S are main two legal encyclopedias)
comprehensive coverage of legal topics, not in depth, objective
• Law review- commentary on law, subjective
• Bar journals- practical applications, subjective or objective. Short articles of
practical interest of local lawyers.
• Practice manuals
• CLE- continued learning education (lawyers must keep up with new law)
• Legislative history
• Treatises- In depth scholarly treatment of legal system, nuances of subject,
subjective but can be objective, hornbooks
o they contain commentaires (a series of short articles) written by scholars
usually restricted to one area of the law and organized by chapter, section and
paragraph
o
• A.LR- American law report, new or emerging law, in depth, narrow, cutting
edge topic, (opposite of encyclopedia) ***If you find this then a lot of work is
done for you***
• Restatements- ALI (American Law Institute) restate laws in an organized way of
all states, not binding unless adapted by a court (second restatement of contracts)
o a scholarly completion of the common law produced by the American Law
Institute they will write about what they think the law is or should be
• Uniform law- commission that gets together to figure out what laws need
clarification, UCC began as this but was adapted, WI version of UCC which was
adapted = is primary but otherwise secondary.
• Periodical publications
• Dictionaries
• Foreign sources
primary v. secondary sources
© 2025/ 2026 | ® All rights reserved
, 3 | Page
Ans: Primary sources of law= LAW, secondary sources are NOT the law
Secondary sources of law are always persuasive only
Primary sources can be persuasive or binding
Judicial Review
Ans: Allows the court to determine the constitutionality of laws
o Legislature has the power to change common law but judges can review a
statute to see if it is constitutional (only in this instance)
o Power of court to test and invalidate statute for unconstitutional only
constitutions
Ans: a written plan that provides the basic framework of a government
· a body of fundamental principles or established precedents according to which a
state or other organization is acknowledged to be governed.
· State and nation
· The U.S constitution & the Wisconsin Constitution
common law vs enacted law
Ans: · The 'common law' = case law
o means the substantive law and procedural rules that have been created by the
judges through the decisions in the cases they have heard
o Judicial
o Primary law
· Enacted law = statute law that has been passed and put into effect
o Primary
o Is in effect
statutes v. regulations
© 2025/ 2026 | ® All rights reserved
, 4 | Page
Ans: · Laws created by agencies are called "regulations."
· Regulations usually must be authorized by a statute,
· However, they have the same legal force as statutes.
· Agencies are part of the executive branch of state and federal government, and
thus are tasked with the execution of the law
· Regulations = executive
EPA regulations
functions of statutes
Ans: 1.) Create new law
2.) Change existing law
3.) Codify (organize if messy)
relationship between statutes and cases
Ans: · Statutes can override cases
· Cases can only ever say if a statute is unconstitutional (only time judge may do
this)
o (judicial review)
hierarchy of authority between federal and state, and within each system
© 2025/ 2026 | ® All rights reserved