Law And Lawyers Take Home Final Exam

On the fourth of July in 1776 the United States became an independent nation. At that point in time, the foundation for a formal legal system was put into place. One of the oldest sources of law is the common law, which dates back to the colonial days. In the case of Davis v. Baugh, the common law rule was used in the first court trial. Common law refers back to precedent cases of similar disputes and assists the judge in making a decision after comparing both cases. Utilizing this ruling to resolve disputes in court is very helpful because it provides uniformity in court. This rule also provides an expectation of what the verdict will be based off the prior cases. Most importantly, common law allows the judge to remain neutral without the implication of personal bias on each case (Meiners, 2012, pp. 9-10).

The rule of law is whereby the government and all those who govern are bound by the law and everyone must follow the law. Rule of law is also known as nomocracy. Government individual officials are not entitled to make any decision which is not in accordance to the law (Paulsen, Calabresi, McConnell & Bray, 2013). All the citizens are governed by the law including those who make the laws. A. V. Dicey has highly advocated for rule of law in modern times and has popularized it. In history the idea of rule of law can be traced back to the ancient civilizations like China, Mesopotamia, and Rome among others.

Historically, common law emphasized the importance of judicial decisions rather than utilizing the structure of codes, legal rules, and statutes as courts do today. In the past, judges documented and issued their decisions which were later circulated from one court to another and became known as common law. In cases where parties disagreed, common law court would look at previous decisions made in related cases and incorporate those decisions into the current case (Siegel, et al., 2011). If similar disputes had been resolved in the previous case, the court would utilize the same perspective to resolve their current case. This became known as precedent and like common law, continues to be utilized in today’s court system (Siegel, et al., 2011).

Aristotle once said “At his best, man is the noblest of all animals; separated from law and justice he is the worst. “ Aristotle saw how we as humans were different from other animals; we were able to create these non-existent rules for humans to follow without question. Laws help shape the society we live in, whether they are positive or negative, our morality can come into play when faced with a troubling situation, why should words on paper dictate what we can and cannot achieve? Why is parchment more credible than the humans’ testimony? Should Gods sway the way laws work? These questions are all important when dealing with the creations of rules and regulations.

Laws have been a part of civilization for many years. Without them, civilization would implode. Chaos would erupt and people would be a danger to one another. The world would be in anarchy and a brutal place to live. Humanity would cease to exist. According to Wikipedia, law is defined as “a system of rules that are enforced through social situations to govern behavior (www.wikipedia.com).” Laws are put into place to regulate society.

In modern American society, there is little thought in how and why the laws came to be. There is a natural assumption that the laws were made to protect the people and society. The law is made under the First Amendment of the Constitution of the United States which give the right to the people to seek its government for redress of any grievances. Utilizing this right, it gives rise to new laws to be enacted and old laws to be amended or repealed, in the ever developing society.

      Laws and rules are the regulating factors to any community. A prosperous and free society is only possible when each individual is by rule of law, protected of force imposed by others . Rules are principles in which every individual must follow regardless of their age, gender, or religion. Guidelines not only provide a sense of equality, but also shows individuals what their limitations are. Without laws, there would be nothing to compare too. When an individual is about to make a decision, they normally weigh the pros and cons, and  act based on which outweighs the other. However, if there are no consequences to consider, people would do anything

The social constructs of law relate it to be something of complexity, where one’s rights and protections are imagined to be difficult to find. The law is an historic and modern aspect of the world, ensuring uniformity. It is important for the law to become not only a creator, but also a product of its environment. For society to accept the law and for its effectiveness, it must be made in ways reflect societal values.

According to Author: Hon. John M. Walker, Jr., Senior Circuit Judge, United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. " The American case system is based on the principle of stare decisis and the idea that like cases should be decided alike" What I take from this passage is the equal rights of decision making from both parties. The judge decide matters depending no external authority designates precedents. Most cases will fall under the stare decisis in some sense.

Law is a system of rules that are enforced through social institutions to govern behavior. (Robertson, Crimes against humanity, 90).Laws can be made by a collective legislature or by a single legislator, resulting in statutes, by the executive through decrees and regulations, or by judges through binding precedent, normally in common jurisdictions.

Throughout history laws have been in place to restore or keep order in society. Some laws are put into place to protect while some laws are made to punish. No matter the purpose, laws are put in place with the expectation they will be followed.

Judicial precedent refers to the sources of law where past decisions made by judges create law for future judges to follow. An example would be the Donoghue vs Stevenson case, where Stevenson had bought ginger beer, and Donoghue had drank it after their been a decomposed snail in it, however their was no charge because she was not in a contract with

The doctrine of judicial precedent is based on the principle of stare decisis which means ‘to stand by what has been decided’. It is a common law principle whereby judges are bound to follow previous decisions in cases where the material facts are sufficiently similar and the earlier decision was made in a court above the current one in the court hierarchy. This doctrine of precedent is extremely strong in English law as it ensures fairness and consistency and it highlights the importance of case law in our legal system. Black's Law Dictionary defines "precedent" as a "rule of law established for the first time by a court for a particular type of case and thereafter referred to in deciding similar cases."

According to Reference.com (2007), law is defined as: “rules of conduct of any organized society, however simple or small, that are enforced by threat of punishment if they are violated. Modern law has a wide sweep and regulates many branches of conduct.” Essentially law is the rules and regulations that aid in governing conduct,

In every political society it is the law which contributes to its civilized character, but law is the handmaid of social justice, rendering in the interest of society that which is according to law and to which a person or persons are entitled.