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LSDefine

Simple English definitions for legal terms

opinion

Read a random definition: hell-or-high-water clause

A quick definition of opinion:

Opinion: In law, an opinion is a written statement by a judge explaining their decision for a case. It includes the judge's name, the facts of the case, the legal issues, the court's reasoning, and the decision. There are different types of opinions, such as majority, concurring, and dissenting opinions. An advisory opinion is a nonbinding statement interpreting the law. Opinion evidence is testimony based on a witness's own thoughts, beliefs, or inferences, while expert opinion is testimony by a witness with specialized knowledge. Opinion work product is material prepared by an attorney that reveals their opinions, mental impressions, conclusions, or legal theories of the case, and is usually not discoverable by an adversary.

A more thorough explanation:

Opinion in law refers to a written statement by a court explaining its decision for a case. This is known as a judicial opinion and usually includes the name of the judge who wrote it, a statement of facts, legal issues, the court's rationale and holding, and dicta. There are different types of judicial opinions:

  • Majority opinion: A judicial opinion that is joined by more than half the judges deciding a case.
  • Concurring opinion: A separate judicial opinion of an appellate judge who voted with the majority, explaining their vote and discussing parts of the decision in which they had a different rationale.
  • Dissenting opinion: A separate judicial opinion of an appellate judge who disagreed with the majority's decision, explaining their disagreement.
  • Advisory opinion: A court's nonbinding statement interpreting the law.
  • Per curiam opinion: A judicial opinion issued under the name of the deciding appellate court, without identifying the judge who wrote it.
  • Plurality opinion: A judicial opinion that received the most votes of any opinion but not enough to be the majority opinion.

Opinion can also refer to witness testimony based on their own thoughts, beliefs, or inferences (opinion evidence), or testimony by an expert witness who possesses specialized knowledge, skill, experience, training, or education (expert opinion). Additionally, opinion work product refers to material prepared by an attorney in preparation of litigation that reveals their opinions, mental impressions, conclusions, or legal theories of the case, which is almost never discoverable by an adversary.

For example, in a court case, the judge will write a judicial opinion explaining their decision. If one of the appellate judges disagrees with the majority's decision, they can write a dissenting opinion. A witness may provide opinion evidence based on their own thoughts or beliefs, while an expert witness may provide expert opinion based on their specialized knowledge. An attorney may prepare opinion work product in preparation for litigation, which is not discoverable by the opposing party.

opinio juris (international law) | option

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10:38
Very happy with LR other than having to guess on a couple questions cuz of time
10:42
i have a question about my personal statement. in my activism for the hospitality workers' union, i organized and spoke up in favor of stronger regulations on airbnb because the unregulated spread of airbnb throughout LA was inflating housing costs for workers and threatening their job security. do you think it's too divisive to mention regulating airbnb? idk
Nostradumbass
10:44
I wrote mine about how all activists should be consolidated into a large smelting pot and refined down to a viscous goo
Nostradumbass
10:45
Expecting a lot of rejections though
11:07
I'm sure you'll get a full ride to a few schools :P
11:11
The impression I get is most schools try not to judge based on the political implications of what you write about. They probably care more that you saw a problem and tried to fix it. That seems like a great thing to write a PS about @chowie
11:18
Besides, if a school didn’t let you in for trying to fix a problem you saw in your community, that doesn’t say great things about your school’s culture (assuming the thing you did showed good common sense judgment ofc)
11:19
That school’s* culture
11:23
Thanks Howl you're right :D I def talked about solving problems in my PS
12:03
@HowlEngineer: what's your dream school
MildChiller
12:08
"Have you applied for admission to [school] in a prior year" I applied in Oct. of the 23-24 cycle, should I put 23 or 24 as the year I applied?
MildChiller
12:09
Bcuz 2023 is when I technically applied but I applied for admissions in 2024
12:14
2024 cuz that's when you would've been admitted
I agree with Howl
12:19
Gecko what's ur dream school
Hard to say. I'm pretty firmly committed to the philly area so probably temple or villanova
Also relatively debt averse so I'd have to get a good scholarship from BC or Fordham to want to go but that's not very likely for me
Any advice? lol
[] baddestbunny
12:25
what’s a good scholarship for you? what would make BC or Fordham worth it?
12:25
Hmmmm let me think
[] baddestbunny
12:25
fordham’s max aid they give is 45k per year
Bunny I can possibly get a 75%+ scholarship from villanova or temple, and I'd be moving back in with my parents if I went there so I'd have near-zero COL. It'd be really hard to beat that
I would prefer BC over Fordham just because I like boston more, but I'm expecting a WL there tbh
I would maybe consider BC with $ but I don't know how to decide if a better biglaw chance is worth the COL + higher tuition
12:50
How do I know if my status checkers are properly linked
12:59
@ChowieBean: right now, Michigan, but there are several that come close. How about you?
13:05
@Law01: I haven't gotten the status checkers to work at all. When I sent an email to the LSData folks the other week, they said they were working on fixing them
13:10
but I think "Last Checked" would change from "Never" to something else
13:30
@HowlEngineer: I'll get more specific once I get my LSAT score, but NYU, Berk, GTown, UCLA
13:30
Anywhere that's top for PI
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