paralegal and law

cbrown1392 Asked:

What must you keep in mind about decisions posted on the Internet so soon after a ruling? And what is a "slip opinion"?

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2 Answers

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Book Answered:

A Slip Opinion is an official opinion that a Court releases to the public, before it's actual publication.

As far as what's posted on the web, you should be cautious as to the validity of the information. There is as much fiction on the internet as fact.

Posted 2 years ago

I'd agree with you, but then we'd both be wrong.

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LB Answered:

I concur with that answer, and to add on if I may to the prior comment, I never rely on summaries, headers, or any secondary source to boil down any case for me, use the headers perhaps to locate the case, but read the case in its entirety, the court sometimes limits the scope of the precedential value of the case, and never, even if it is a site that you may find to be reliable or well-known, rely on their interpretation either. Law is not just a jealous mistress, she's vengeful, too, and we all need to take each case, its jurisdiction and precential value, and know it entirely, know its prior and later history to ensure it has not been overturned or superseded, because said site may in fact be introducing you to "Miss Interpretation" and cause at the very best embarrassment (pardon the pun, I needed a little break from a case). The Bluebook (which also has an online counterpart, I didn't know that until last year stupidly, and I've been practicing law longer than I will ever admit) also contains helpful information relating to some meanings of different types of cases, as well as proper citation format and proper times the particular source you are citing may or may not be used as authority.