Legal opinions

A legal opinion is a statement, usually prepared in writing but sometimes delivered orally by a judge or court to announce the decision reached in a case argued or tried before them, giving a brief summary of the facts, expounding the law as it applies to the case, detailing the rationale on which the decision is based, and pronouncing judgment. A majority opinion, written by one of the judges, presents the principles of law deemed operative by a majority of the court. In Common law , a majority opinion has more weight as precedent than a dissenting or minority opinion in which one or more judges disagree with the result and therefore with the reasoning and/or principles underlying the decision. A concurring opinion agrees with the result reached by the majority, but disagrees in at least one particular with the rationale leading to it. A separate opinion may be written by one or more judges who concur or dissent from the majority opinion. A plurality opinion is agreed to by less than a majority as to rationale, but by a majority as to result. Not all court opinions are released for publication but when they are, they are collected in Law books called court reporters. In the United States, each state has at least one reporter in which the opinions of its courts are published; the federal courts have several.

A prescribed format exists for the publication of court opinions in reporters. At the top of each page, the name of the reporter appears, preceded by the volume number, and in the upper outside corner of the page is printed the page number. The volume number, reporter name, and page number constitute the citation used in reference to the opinion and as a means of locating it. The name of the reporter may be abbreviated in the citation, for example, 207 Cal. Rptr. 400 for an opinion appearing at page 400 in volume 207 of the California Reporter. The elements of an opinion are arranged as follows:

1. Title of the action, identifying the parties and their roles in the action (plaintiff and defendant or appellant and respondent)
2. Docket or calendar number assigned by the court
3. Name of the court delivering the opinion and date of the decision
4. Summary of the facts and the decision (supplied by publisher of reporter)
5. Headnotes classifying the points of law applied by the court (supplied by publisher)
6. Syllabus summarizing the case (usually written by the Court reporter )
7. Names of the attorneys representing the parties
8. Text of the opinion, opening with the name of the judge who wrote it

Author: international

Mentioned in these Entries

Arkansas Agency Databases, Briefs in Law, Common law, Court reporter, Digests and American Law Reports, Disclaimer, Florida Agency Databases, Key Number System, Law books, Lawyer’s history, National Reporter System.

Legal Opinions regarding Banking Law

This content deals with legal and regulatory aspects of Legal Opinions covered in connexion with financial law and banking / lending Institutions.