1. Welcome to Seminar #2 One Week Down – Nine more to go!! One Week Down – Nine more to go!! We had a great first week – so keep it up! Please!! Let’s do a round of applause like we did last week!!

2. Here is my contact information again…. My name is Mitzi Dease Paige My contact information is: 601-201-0884 (cell) mpaige@kaplan.edu

3. So how did Week #1 go?? Not too bad, right?

4. SUNDAY PHONE CALLS...OH MY! SO my Sunday phone calls will be a regular thing if you miss an assignment or if your grade dips below 60%. My phone calls will always be friendly – and offering help and assistance….so if you see 601-201-0884 on your caller ID, it’s me!

5. AND on a side note…. Doesn’t the woman on the Kaplan Login screen remind you of Katie Holmes….

6. This week’s assignments are: 1) We have our discussion board question 2) We a quiz 3) and we have another Assignment – which deals with Statutes and how to read and interpret them….

7. Good news about the quizzes…. I know that some of you asked me about the quizzes last week… AND you were curious if they could be re- taken…. AND the answer is Yes! So if you do not do well – then do it again until you learn the information. *The one thing you have to do though – is take the quiz within its assigned week.

8. Here are the directions for the Week #2 Assignment: Practice Online Research The statute (listed in DOC SHARING) deals with the denial of unemployment benefits in New Mexico. It lists the reasons for which the Division of Unemployment Services can disqualify a person from receiving unemployment benefits. Read the statute, and then answer the questions which follow.

9. Here are the 5 questions you will need to answer: 1. Who enacted this statute? 2. Is this statutory mandatory or discretionary? What causal term in the statute helped you answer this question? 3. According to this statute, what are the three ways that a person can be denied unemployment benefits in New Mexico? Must a person do all three things to be disqualified from receiving benefits, or is it enough that they only do one of the listed things? What term in the statute helped you answer this question? 4. Are there any exceptions to this statute? If so, which of the three ways of being denied unemployment compensation do the exceptions apply to? 5. Provide the Bluebook citation for this statute.

10. Let’s quickly review what F-IRAC is so you know how to organize your briefs. Facts Issue Rule Analysis Conclusion

11. What are the Facts? The Facts briefly describe the parties to the dispute, what led them to court, and, in the case of appellate proceedings, the procedural history of the case. Sorting out the parties and their status is an important part of understanding a case.

12. What is the Issue? The issue (or issues) before the court is the question at the heart of a dispute, which the court is called upon to settle.

13. The Rule of Law is what again? This part of the case sets forth the relevant statutes, regulations, ordinances, or common law principles that the court applies in arriving at its decision.

14. The Analysis is the “heart” of the brief…. In this section, you will describe the argument that each party presented and how the court responded and applied the facts to the relevant law. Describe the court’s reasons for the decision: what policy considerations were behind its decisions? Did the court describe any flaws in existing law or announce any changes its decision would bring about?

15. AND last but not least is the Conclusion…. Briefly state the final outcome of the case. All of the hard work should already be done….so the Conclusion is where you just state what you think the likely outcome will be….

16. So that’s what I am looking for…. AND just to be clear – You will need to BRIEF each of the cases. You can submit it as one big assignment/document.

17. So this week we will focus on the issue of how to read and interpret a statute: Applying the Meaning of a Statute (Chapter 6) Once you determine the relevant statute and its meaning – then you apply the facts in your case to the statute to determine if the statute’s elements were met or not….

18. Applying the Meaning of a Statute Before attempting to interpret statutes—or understanding what they say—it is important to know what is in them and how they are organized. Statutes are organized into sections and subsections to aid comprehension; but no matter how many sections there are, they all must be read together in order to understand the statute. A statute’s sections are meant to work together to accomplish the legislation’s goal. Taking statutory language out of context is a sure way to get it wrong.

19. Reading a Statute Step by Step Only judges and administrative agency personnel actually interpret statutes in an enforceable way. Other legal professionals can advocate or put forth an interpretation, but they do not interpret statutes in the same sense that judges do. This distinction matters because unless you are one of those legal decision makers, your interpretation, no matter how logical or well-supported it may be, is not binding. You cannot make other people follow your interpretation. Moreover, your interpretation may simply be one of several plausible ones. Only interpretations adopted by those with authority are valid.

20. Statutory Interpretation Statutes are creatures of the written word: Rights, obligations, and duties depend on what is written. If language were mathematically perfect—and if everyone were equally well versed in its use—there would be no need for statutory interpretation, as every statute would say exactly what it means and mean exactly what it says. Unfortunately, language and the legislators who draft statutes are not perfect.Hence, statutory interpretation is necessary.

21. Plain meaning…. Plain meaning. Statutory language does not always need to be interpreted. If statutory language is clear and unambiguous, there is no need for interpretation: one simply follows the statute’s plain meaning. As many judges and commentators have put it, interpretation is used to clear up ambiguity—not to create ambiguity when none exists.

22. General rules for understanding statutes…. When there is ambiguity in how to apply a given statute—which may result from technological innovations or societal changes that the statute’s drafters could not foresee—it becomes necessary to interpret the statute. If there is doubt about what a statute requires, litigation is often the result. During the course of the case, lawyers and their legal teams will try to convince the judge to interpret and apply the statute in a way that is favorable to their cause or client.

23. Here are some examples. We will start with a simple one: (from the e-Book): A client wants to know the current federal minimum wage. You turn to 29 U.S.C. § 206(a)(1) and read that starting 24 months after the 60th day following May 25, 2007—or July 23, 2009— the minimum wage is $7.25 per hour. The statute is clear and without ambiguity.

24. A second example: A client is concerned about his business’s overtime obligations. He wants to know if his telemarketers, who cold-call sales prospects, are exempt from overtime. The exemptions from overtime (“maximum hours”) are found in 29 U.S.C.§ 213. In that section, you find a number of exemptions, none of which seem to apply to this situation. Section 213 does not specifically say that there are no other exemptions beyond those that are listed; however, it sets forth a defined number of distinct exemptions and does not include language—such as “and other” or “and similarly situated”—that would indicate there are additional exemptions. The fact that certain exemptions are specifically stated means that jobs or professions not listed are not exempt from the overtime rules.

25. Example #3: a little more complex…. The same client makes the same inquiry about the information technology (IT) support personnel who maintain his company’s servers and databases. Looking again to 29 U.S.C. § 213, you see there are three different overtime exemptions— the administrative exemption, the professional exemption, and the computer professional exemption— that might apply. After you read the statutory language, it seems as though IT support personnel would not qualify. The statute does not provide sufficient detail to determine which exemptions (if any) apply. You know that the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) implements the FLSA, so you research the DOL’s interpretations. You find regulations and interpretive guidelines that make it clear that your client’s IT support personnel do not qualify for any overtime exemptions. The statute itself did not define all its own terms; there was no way to tell using intrinsic aids exactly who was covered by some of the exemptions. However, by looking to the responsible administrative agency, you found what you needed..

26. Analogizing and Distinguishing Cases Stare decisis: (relying on previous case law) Latin for “let the decision stand,” a doctrine requiring that judges apply the same reasoning to lawsuits as has been used in prior similar cases favorable to their cause or client.

27. In a common-law legal system, where case precedent is binding on courts in the same jurisdiction, it is possible to look to previously decided cases to predict the likely outcome of current cases.

28. However, before beginning the process of analogizing or distinguishing cases, it is necessary to first identify a group of relevant cases that are binding in the particular jurisdiction and then synthesize them to determine the principle of law that applies to those involving similar issues despite factual variations. When synthesizing cases, it is important to look for ideas that are expressly stated by the court as well as ideas that can be inferred through a careful reading of a number of similar cases. Once you have obtained an understanding of the general rule of law that applies to the issues presented in the current case, you can begin analogizing and distinguishing relevant cases to build arguments that support the desired outcome.

29. Stare decisis makes it possible to build arguments that favor your position by analogizing the facts of past decisions with the facts of the current case to show the court’s holding is consistent with your desired outcome. On the other hand, when you discover a case that is detrimental to the desired outcome of the case, you may distinguish the facts of the precedent case with those of the case at hand, attempt to explain why the current case does not require the same outcome, or do both.

30. Ready for some practice questions? I have a few to review….

31. Here is the first one….let’s see if you were paying attention…. 1. What does stare decisis mean? a. Decide with authority b. Use your best judgment c. Let the decision stand d. Rule by the memo

32. How is stare decisis useful? 2. How is stare decisis useful? a. It helps to ensure that courts maintain their authority b. It helps courts take time to use their best judgment c. It helps lawyers plan out their trial strategy and negotiate settlements d. It thins out the court docket

33. 3. Whether a past decision is applicable to a current case depends on what factors? a. Jurisdiction b. Facts c. Whether the case is good law d. All of the above

34. Here is one we did not cover tonite: What does “id” mean when used as a short form citation? a. The preceding citation is identical. b. The preceding citation is identical except for section number. c. “And so forth.” d. It indicates surplusage in the citation.