The opinion was issued March 23, 2021. It will not be published in the official reporter volumes
1. The case that you will be working on for this assignment is:
Keywordvalet, LLC v. Parts Base, Inc.
Cause No. 01-20-00078-CV
2021 WL 1095907 (electronic citation)
The opinion was issued March 23, 2021. It will not be published in the official reporter volumes because the judges determined that it does not add anything new to Texas common law. The opinion is available on the court\’s website at: https://search.txcourts.gov/Case.aspx?cn=01-20-00078-CV&coa=coa01
and through electronic legal databases like Westlaw and Lexis Nexis. The Westlaw citation is provided above.
There was no oral argument on this case, the court decided the case based on the parties\’ briefs. The court\’s opinion and the parties\’ briefs are attached to this assignment. It is necessary to use all three documents to complete the assignment.
2. Answer the following questions and submit it to the Assignment Folder in D2L. This writing assignment is worth 50 points. Use correct grammar and proofread your work before submitting it.
Do not copy from the briefing or the opinion. Your writing assignment must be entirely your own work. (The only exceptions are explicitly noted in the questions below.)
Include the questions below with your answers; you do not need to include the guidance and hints that I provide with the questions.
[Include your name and course section and date at the top of the page, MLA format]
1. Plagiarism
Write one paragraph defining plagiarism. Your answer must cite two sources. Only one source can be a website. Follow this structure in your answer:
Plagiarism is defined as ___.
2-3 supporting sentences.
Plagiarism harms the original source [because it / by ]_____.
Plagiarism harms the person committing plagiarism [because it / by] _______.
2. What is the case name and citation?
3. What are the names of the judges on the appellate panel deciding the case?
4. Who authored the majority opinion? What justices joined the majority opinion?
The majority opinion is the deciding opinion of the court in this case.
Answer this and all questions in complete sentences.
5. Was there a concurring opinion?
Answer yes or no. If so, who authored (and who joined) the concurrence?
6. Was there a dissenting opinion?
Answer yes or no. If so, who authored (and who joined) the dissent?
7. What are the facts of the case?
Provide a two-paragraph summary in your own words using complete sentences. Be sure to tell me who the parties to the lawsuit are. Use this answer to tell the story of what happened that caused someone to sue someone else. You will find this information near the beginning of the judicial opinion. Do NOT copy directly from the opinion or the parties\’ briefs. You do not need to go into great detail about what the trial court decided.
In your answer, identify the appellant and the appellee. For example, in this case, the appellant is [NAME]_and [NAME] is the appellee. Hint: the appellant is the party appealing the lower court\’s decision.
8. What are the appellant\’s issues? (use the appellant\’s brief to answer this question)
It is acceptable for you to copy the issues directly if you are unable to restate them in your own words.
What is the question (or questions) that the court has to answer?
List and number the appellant\’s issues in sentence format usually posed as a question.
Example:
1. Does the XYZ Act of 1975 violate the Fourth Amendment to the US Constitution?
2. Does the XYZ Act of 1975 violate the Tenth Amendment to the US Constitution?
9. What are the appellee\’s issues? (use the appellee\’s brief to answer this question)
Did the appellee restate the issues in a different way than what was stated by the appellant?
Answer this question yes or no using a complete sentence.
If the answer is yes, what are the issues according to the appellee? List and number them as you did the appellant\’s issues in Question 8. It is acceptable to copy the issues directly if you are unable to restate them in your own words.
10. Explain the court\’s analysis. (use the court\’s opinion to answer this question)
Provide a two-paragraph summary of the court\’s opinion.
Organize this according to the issues presented.
For example:
I. Issue 1
A. Summary
II. Issue 2
A. Summary
III. Conclusion
HERE IS SOME SAMPLE LANGUAGE THAT MAY BE HELPFUL (it is not my intention that you use this as a fill in the blank template for your answer):
The first issue the court discussed was ______. The court first examined the Petitioner\’s argument that [fill in the blank]. The court considered its previous holding in the Smith v. Jones case and determined that [fill in the blank].
The second issue the court discussed was ______. The court rejected the Respondent\’s argument because [fill in the blank].
In conclusion, the court determined that . . . .
11. What is the court\’s holding?
What was the court’s holding? Did the appellate court reverse the lower (trial) court, or did it affirm the lower court? Do This should be a one-sentence answer that follows this format:
Examples:
The First Court of Appeals reversed the trial court and remanded the case to the trial court for further proceedings.
The First Court of Appeals reversed the trial court and rendered judgment in favor of ___.
The First Court of Appeals affirmed the opinion of the trial court.
NOT provide any additional information here.
Grading:
Questions 1 = 5 points
Questions 2-6 = 10 points
Question 7 = 10 points
Question 8-9 = 5 points
Question 10 = 15 points
Question 11 = 5 points
Not following instructions = 5 point deduction
How to improve your grade:
Read the instructions.
Read the opinion.
Read the briefs.
Re-read the opinion.
Re-read the briefs.
Answer each question individually. Go back and re-read the instructions and compare those instructions to your answer. Revise your answer to conform to the instructions. Read the opinion again. Revise your answers.
Run spell check and / or Grammarly.
Proofread. Ask a friend to proofread. Read it out loud to yourself. Ask yourself if it makes sense. Did you write it or did you copy it? If you copied it, re-write it in your own words. Contact the Writing Center for help if you need it. Make sure that you know what plagiarism is – ask Professor Crawford if you aren\’t sure. Plagiarism includes copying but changing 1-2 words in the text.
If you don\’t understand what you wrote, I probably won\’t either.
Requirements: 3 pages
Answer preview to the opinion was issued March 23, 2021. It will not be published in the official reporter volumes
APA
987 words
