The two major components of the dispute resolution process are the applicable law and the facts of the dispute. In the professional practice of law, you will be sifting through the case file to identify which of the hundreds or thousands of facts produced by discovery are “key” facts. Key facts are those facts that are critical to the outcome of the case. A key fact is so essential that if it were changed, the outcome of the case might well be different. In law school, you are practicing this skill of focusing on facts – in order for you to learn to assess legal problems, you must be able to find the important facts ... the key facts, the facts upon which the outcome of the issue in question depends.