ID DH Juris cheat sheet

A valid contract requires offer, acceptance, consideration, capacity, and legality of object; absence of any element is a defense to enforcement.

Offer terminates by revocation, rejection, counteroffer, lapse of time, death or incapacity of the offeror before acceptance, or failure of a condition precedent.

Consideration must be bargained-for and sufficient but need not be adequate; past consideration and moral obligation generally do not suffice.

Statute of Frauds categories requiring a writing: land interests, suretyship, marriage consideration, contracts not performable within one year, sale of goods over the threshold amount, executor promises to pay estate debts.

Breach remedies: expectation damages restore the position had the contract been performed; reliance damages restore pre-contract position; restitution disgorges unjust enrichment.

Foreseeability (Hadley v Baxendale) limits consequential damages to losses arising naturally or contemplated by both parties at formation.

Tort negligence elements: duty, breach, actual cause (but-for), proximate cause, and damages; comparative or contributory negligence and assumption of risk reduce or bar recovery.

Strict liability attaches to abnormally dangerous activities and defective products; product defects are classified as design, manufacturing, or failure to warn.

Ownership and possession are distinct; a good-faith purchaser may acquire title from a seller with voidable title but not from one with void title.

Actus reus plus mens rea concurring at the same moment are required for most offenses; strict liability offenses dispense with mens rea for at least one element.

Mens rea hierarchy (Model Penal Code): purposely, knowingly, recklessly, negligently; the culpable mental state applies to each material element unless plainly displaced.

Homicide grading: murder requires malice (intent to kill, intent to cause serious bodily harm, reckless indifference, or felony murder); manslaughter is recklessness or heat of passion.

Felony murder limits: death must be caused during commission of an inherently dangerous felony; agency and proximate-cause theories vary by jurisdiction, and the underlying felony merges.

Inchoate offenses: attempt requires specific intent plus a substantial step; conspiracy requires agreement plus intent to achieve the objective and, in many jurisdictions, an overt act.

Defenses: self-defense requires reasonable belief in imminent unlawful force and proportionality; duress is generally not a defense to intentional homicide.

Fourth Amendment: searches require a warrant supported by probable cause unless an exception applies (consent, search incident to arrest, plain view, exigency, automobile, inventory).

Exclusionary rule bars evidence obtained through unconstitutional search or seizure; exceptions include inevitable discovery, independent source, attenuation, and good faith.

Miranda warnings (custody plus interrogation) trigger rights to remain silent and to counsel; waiver must be knowing, voluntary, and intelligent.

Judicial review requires a case or controversy: standing (injury in fact, causation, redressability), ripeness, mootness, and no political question.

Standards of review: strict scrutiny (fundamental rights, suspect classifications) requires compelling interest and narrow tailoring; intermediate scrutiny requires important interest and substantial relation; rational basis requires any conceivable legitimate interest.

Due process: procedural due process balances private interest, risk of erroneous deprivation, and government interest (Mathews v Eldridge); substantive due process protects fundamental liberties.

Equal protection analysis turns on the classification used and the right burdened; suspect classes trigger strict scrutiny, gender and legitimacy intermediate scrutiny.

First Amendment: content-based restrictions on speech face strict scrutiny; content-neutral time, place, and manner rules must be narrowly tailored to a significant interest and leave open alternatives.

Administrative agencies exercise delegated legislative (rule-making), executive (enforcement), and judicial (adjudication) power; delegation is valid with an intelligible principle.

Rule-making requires notice of proposed rule, opportunity to comment, and a concise general statement of basis and purpose; adjudication requires notice and a hearing.

Judicial review of agency action under the arbitrary and capricious standard examines whether the agency considered relevant factors and articulated a rational connection between facts and choice.

Procedural fairness in administrative hearings includes an impartial decision-maker, notice of charges, opportunity to present evidence and cross-examine, and a statement of reasons.

Corporate formation requires incorporators, articles of incorporation filed with the state, and adoption of bylaws; the corporation is a separate legal person with limited liability for shareholders.

Piercing the corporate veil requires abuse of the corporate form such as commingling, undercapitalization, or fraud, plus resulting injustice; it is an equitable remedy applied narrowly.

Business judgment rule presumes directors acted on an informed basis, in good faith, and in the honest belief the action served the corporation; rebuttal shifts burden to directors.

Duty of loyalty requires disclosure of conflicts, disinterested approval, or fairness; corporate opportunities and insider trading implicate loyalty, not care.

Shareholder derivative suits require demand on the board or demand futility; the demand is excused where a majority of directors lack independence on the challenged transaction.

Securities law: Section 10(b) and Rule 10b-5 prohibit material misstatements or omissions with scienter in connection with purchase or sale of securities; reliance and materiality are elements.

Negotiable instruments under UCC Article 3 require a writing, unconditional promise or order, fixed amount, payable on demand or at a definite time, and payable to order or bearer.

UCC Article 2 sale of goods: perfect tender rule applies between merchants subject to cure and adequate assurance; risk of loss follows shipment or destination contract terms.

Bankruptcy: automatic stay halts collection; Chapter 7 liquidation, Chapter 11 reorganization, Chapter 13 individual wage-earner repayment; discharge exceptions include fraud and willful injury.

Personal jurisdiction requires minimum contacts, purposeful availment, relatedness, and fair play; general jurisdiction exists where the defendant is at home.

Subject-matter jurisdiction: federal question under 28 U.S.C. 1331 and diversity under 1332 with complete diversity and amount in controversy exceeding the statutory threshold.

Pleadings under notice pleading require a short and plain statement of the claim showing entitlement to relief; fraud and mistake require particularity.

Discovery scope is relevance to any party's claim or defense and proportional to the needs of the case; privileged material is exempt, work product conditionally protected.

Summary judgment granted when no genuine dispute of material fact exists and the movant is entitled to judgment as a matter of law; the nonmovant receives all reasonable inferences.

Res judicata (claim preclusion) bars relitigation of the same claim between the same parties; collateral estoppel bars relitigation of an issue actually litigated and necessary to judgment.

Evidence relevance requires probative value and materiality; Rule 403 excludes relevant evidence whose probative value is substantially outweighed by unfair prejudice or confusion.

Hearsay is an out-of-court statement offered for its truth; exemptions include opposing party statements and prior consistent statements; exceptions include excited utterance, business records, and present sense impression.

Privileges include attorney-client (confidential communication for legal advice), work product, spousal, physician-patient, and clergy-penitent; waiver follows voluntary disclosure.

Competence and diligence require the legal knowledge, skill, thoroughness, and preparation reasonably necessary; a lawyer may take on a matter by becoming competent through study.

Confidentiality under Rule 1.6 covers all information relating to representation; disclosure is permitted to prevent reasonably certain death or substantial bodily harm and to prevent client crime or fraud involving the lawyer's services.

Conflict of interest: concurrent conflicts under Rule 1.7 may be waived by informed consent confirmed in writing where the lawyer reasonably believes competent representation is possible.

Business transactions with a client require terms fair and reasonable, disclosure in writing, advice to seek independent counsel, and informed written consent.

Fees must be reasonable; contingent fees are prohibited in criminal matters and domestic relations cases where prohibited by law; written fee agreements are required in most contingent cases.

Safekeeping client property requires trust accounts, no commingling, prompt notification of receipt, and prompt delivery of funds to which the client is entitled.

Advertising must not be false or misleading; solicitation of prospective clients in person or by live telephone for pecuniary gain is prohibited unless the recipient is a lawyer or has a prior relationship.

Withdrawal: mandatory when continued representation violates rules or the lawyer is physically or mentally impaired; permissive when the client insists on illegal conduct or makes representation unreasonably difficult.

A lawyer may not reveal information to respond to a negative online review except as necessary to respond, and must limit disclosure to what is reasonably needed.

Primary authority: constitutions, statutes, regulations, and cases; secondary authority: treatises, restatements, law review articles, and encyclopedias used for background and persuasive weight.

Mandatory authority binds within the jurisdiction and court hierarchy; persuasive authority includes decisions from other jurisdictions and lower courts.

IRAC structure: Issue, Rule, Application, Conclusion; CREAC adds an explicit conclusion before the rule and is common in persuasive writing.

Case briefing elements: facts, procedural history, issue, holding, reasoning, and disposition; the holding is the court's answer to the issue necessary to the judgment.

Citation forms: cases italicized with volume, reporter, page, court, and year; statutes cite code title, section, and year; signals such as see, cf., and but see indicate weight.

Shepardizing or key-citing verifies that a case remains good law and identifies subsequent treatment such as overruling, distinguishing, or questioning.

Statutory interpretation tools: plain meaning, legislative history, canons (expressio unius, ejusdem generis, noscitur a sociis), and avoidance of constitutional doubt.

Counterargument and distinguishing: address the strongest opposing authority, explain factual or legal distinctions, and analogize to favorable precedent.

Legal writing clarity: use active voice, short sentences, defined terms, accurate headings, and a roadmap paragraph in the introduction to guide the reader.