Foundations UPDATED ACTUAL
Questions and CORRECT Answers
Law - CORRECT ANSWER - A body of rules of action or conduct prescribed by
controlling authority and having legal binding force.
Jurisprudence - CORRECT ANSWER - The science and philosophy of law that defines
various approaches to the appropriate function of law and how legal doctrines should be
developed and applied.
Black's Law Dictionary - CORRECT ANSWER - The leading legal dictionary.
Counsel - CORRECT ANSWER - Another term for attorney
Constitutional Law - CORRECT ANSWER - The body of law interpreting state and
federal constitutions
Statutory Law - CORRECT ANSWER - The body of law created by the legislature and
approved by the executive branch of state and federal government.
Common Law - CORRECT ANSWER - Law that has not been passed by the legislature
but rather is made by the courts; based on the fundamentals of previous cases with similar facts.
Administrative Law - CORRECT ANSWER - Refers to both the law made by
administrative agencies and the laws and regulations that govern the creation, organization, and
operation of administrative agencies.
Ordinances - CORRECT ANSWER - Local Statutes passed by local legislatures.
, Plain Meaning Rule - CORRECT ANSWER - The principle that if the words in a statue
have clear and widely understood meanings, the court applies the statute; used as the initial
guideline in statutory interpretation to determine how a rule should be applied.
Statutory Scheme - CORRECT ANSWER - The structure of a statute and the format of its
mandates.
Legislative History - CORRECT ANSWER - The records kept by the legislature, including
the debates, committee and conference reports, and legislative findings of fact used when
creating a law, which can be used to show the legislature's intent.
Citation - CORRECT ANSWER - The special format used by the legal community to
express where a statue or case law can be found.
Doctrine of Stare Decisis - CORRECT ANSWER - The principle that similar cases with
similar facts under similar circumstances should have similar outcomes.
Precedent - CORRECT ANSWER - Applying the law made in previous appellate court
opinions to current cases with similar facts; binding on the trial courts.
Secondary Sources - CORRECT ANSWER - Sources of law that have no independent
authority or legally binding effect but can be used to illustrate a point or clarify a legal issue.
Restatements of the Law - CORRECT ANSWER - A collection of uniform legal principles
focused in a particular area of the law, which contains statements of common law legal principles
and rules in a given area of law.
Model State Statutes - CORRECT ANSWER - Statutes drafted by legal experts to be used
as a model for state legislatures to adopt in their individual jurisdictions in order to increase the
level of uniformity and fairness across courts in all states.