Administrative agency
An official governmental body empowered by legislatures to direct, supervise, and regulate a specific topical area (e.g., banking). Administrative agencies may also be called commissions, boards, departments, or divisions. Rules and regulations made (promulgated) by an administrative agency usually have the force of law; i.e., violating an administrative rule is often considered to be breaking the law.
Administrative decision
A decision issued by an administrative agency that is empowered to resolve disputes in its area of expertise. An administrative decision is issued after an arbiter, judge, or panel from the agency reviews evidence and arguments set forth by opposing parties, and determines rights and obligations between the parties. These decisions are binding, though they may be appealed through the court system.
Administrative material
Public documents issued by an administrative agency. These may include orders, decisions, bulletins, memoranda, directives, notices, circular letters, informational letters, and other advisory materials.
Bulletin
A document issued by an administrative agency that announces news, policy, and guidance.
Case
An action, cause, suit, or controversy contested in a court of law. When a judge (or panel of judges) decides a case, he or she issues a written opinion, which is sometimes referred to as a case, decision, opinion, judicial opinion, or (in the plural) case law. Many opinions are published in printed volumes, grouped according to when the decisions were rendered, and issued citations based on the volume and beginning page number. Some opinions are not published in printed volumes. On Westlaw Compliance Advisor, these cases are given a Westlaw citation.
Each case has a name (also referred to as its title) that includes the names of the parties. Most cases are named to indicate who is suing whom (e.g., Bergman v. United States). Some cases have only one name with a Latin phrase attached (e.g., In re Seiferth). In a criminal case, the first party is often the state itself (e.g., State v. Birditt).
Case law. See Case
Circular letter
A document issued by an administrative agency that announces news, policy, and guidance.
Citation
A reference to a case, statute, regulation, or other published document with sufficient detail to identify the document uniquely. On Westlaw Compliance Advisor, many citations appear as hypertext links that allow you to jump from a citation in the document you are viewing to the full text of the cited document.
Code of Federal Regulations
The codification of rules and regulations made by federal administrative agencies. A final rule published in the Federal Register ultimately becomes part of the Code of Federal Regulations.
Court case. See Case.
Docket
The official schedule of proceedings in cases pending in a court of law. Dockets entries typically include the exact date of an event with a very brief description of the event (such as summons served or motion filed).
Docket number
A number assigned to a case when it is filed with the court clerk that remains with the case and is used to keep track of documents filed in the course of the litigation. Typically, a docket number includes numbers indicating the year that the case was filed.
Federal Register
The official publication for rules, proposed rules, and notices of federal agencies. It also contains executive orders and other presidential documents. It is published six days a week, excluding holidays. A final rule published in the Federal Register ultimately becomes part of the Code of Federal Regulations.
Informational letter
A document issued by an administrative agency that announces news, policy, and guidance.
Jurisdiction
A geographic area in which a governing body has authority or control.
KeyCite®
West's citation research service. You can use KeyCite to see if the law has changed, research the history of a statute or case, and find related information. KeyCite history and citing references are available through Westlaw Compliance Advisor.
Legislature
An elected body of people responsible for making laws for a political unit, such as a state or nation.
Litigation
An action, cause, suit, or controversy contested in a court of law.
Opinion
A written decision issued by a judge when deciding a case.
Regulation
An order made by an administrative agency that has the force of law.
Regulatory material. See Administrative material.
Rule. See Regulation.
Statute
An law enacted by a legislature.
Survey
A document used to compare the law of one state with that of another. Surveys on Westlaw Compliance Advisor summarize selected legal topics, list applicable state and federal statutes and regulations, and provide links to the full text of statutes and regulations. In addition, many surveys include a PDF table that provides state-by-state comparisons of the key legal issues in the survey.
United States Code ( USC)
The codification of the laws of the United States. It is divided by broad subjects into 50 titles. West publishes the United States Code Annotated® (USCA®), which provides, in addition to the text of every law, the history of the law including amendments, cross-references to related statutes and regulations, and citations to and summaries of related court and administrative decisions, treatises, and journal articles.