Since a specific analysis of Minnesota has yet to be completed, Gates uses findings from other states and compares them to Minnesota's roughly 15, 000 same-sex couples.

CNN: Economy enters same-sex marriage debate

Khosla had a more specific analysis of startups from the popular Silicon Valley incubator Y Combinator, arguing that they are essentially a victim of their own success.

FORBES: Vinod Khosla: Y Combinator Startups Need Help, Not Hype

Thus, in a typical analysis, the lawyer is focused on a fact-specific transaction and would analyze each and every duty or obligation imposed by law and determine what must be done to comply and what must be avoided so as not to breach some duty imposed by statute, regulation, common law, or the contractual obligations underlying the transaction itself.

CENTERFORSECURITYPOLICY: Shariah��s Black Box

To give you an idea of how widespread the problem is, a new study to be published in the Journal of Finance and Quantitative Analysis finds that option volume in a specific stock begins to surge three days before unannounced analyst upgrades or downgrades of a company.

WSJ: Insider Trading's Smart Cheats

PayScale's analysis doesn't show how a specific degree from one school compares with that same degree from another school.

WSJ: Upside: Is College the 'Best Investment'? Here's the Math

The first minister said the council meeting had focused on youth unemployment and had agreed that a more detailed analysis would be carried out on the impact of initiatives specific to this matter.

BBC: British Irish Council

The answers to these and many questions like them must be part of a knowledge base available to the lawyer as he begins his analysis of specific legal duties in the context ofU.S. law.

CENTERFORSECURITYPOLICY: Shariah��s Black Box