LEB 323 Chapter 2: Court Systems and Jurisdiction

What are the General Trial Courts (aka state trial courts)?

-Most important cases, involving state law; general jurisdiction -Aka district courts, common plea courts, superior courts

Contract cases: courts consider the following factors to decide state with most significant relationship to parties and transactions

-Place of contracting -Place of negotiation -Place of performance -Location of subject matter of contract -Domiciles, residence, nationality, place of incorporation and place of business of parties

Tort cases: to decide which state has most significant relationship to the occurrence and the parties, consider:

-Place where injury occurred -Place where conduct causing the injury occurred -Domiciles residence, nationality, place of incorporation, and place of business of parties -Place where relationship, if any, between parties is centered

What are the appellate courts? (which frequently exist at two levels)

-These courts hear appeals from judgments entered by the courts below -Sometimes called supreme court if only one appellate court -In more populous sates, appellate courts interposed between trial courts and supreme court -*Important* Decide legal questions, don't hear testimony of witnesses or otherwise entertain new evidence

What are the Procedural due process requirements

-adequate notice -a meaningful opportunity to be heard (a hearing) -an impartial decision maker (one who doesn't have a personal stake in outcome) -in court actions, some substantial contact between the defendant and the forum state (the state where the lawsuit has been filed).

what are Diversity of citizenship cases?

-citizens are from different states - creates federal subject matter jurisdiction only if amount in controversy is greater than $75K it is always Concurrent federal-state jurisdiction, but if file in state, can't appeal to US supreme court -If a case involves multiple plaintiffs and/or multiple defendants, exists only when no common state citizenship on opposite sides of case -Corporations are citizens of state where they were incorporated and of states where is principle place of business

What is the FEDERAL Court System made up of? (look at the diagram on pg 28)

1. Specialized US Courts 2. US District Courts 3. Appellate Courts

What does the typical STATE system comprise of?

1. Courts of Limited Jurisdiction 2.General Trial Courts 3. Appellate Courts (which frequently exist at two levels)

What does a court need to have to have power to adjudicate?

1. Subject Matter Jurisdiction 2. Personal Jurisdiction

2 types of situations in which a nonresident may be said to have had sufficient contact with the forum state to enable a state or federal court there to acquire personal jurisdiction over the nonresident defendant

1. general personal jurisdiction: This occurs when the nonresident has had "substantial continuing contacts" with the forum state 2. specific personal jurisdiction: If the nonresident defendant has intentionally engaged in a specific act in the forum state

What do the Appellate courts do? (Federal level)

11/13 courts located in circuits. Have jurisdiction to hear appeals from state district courts AND fed admin agencies -Parties who seek review must petition the supreme court for a writ of certiorari

What is subject matter jurisdiction?

Consists of power to hear a particular kind of case

Conflicts of Laws consist of:

Contract cases and Tort cases

What are the two ways federal question cases may be?

Exclusive - claims asserting a right may file only in federal courts (patent, copyright, antitrust, securities laws) Concurrent - can be heard by either federal or state courts

What are the 2 categories of civil cases that constitution and federal statues have placed within the subject matter jurisdiction of the federal courts?

Federal question cases Diversity of citizenship cases - federal subject matter jurisdiction only if amount in controversy is greater than $75K Concurrent federal-state jurisdiction, but if file in state, can't appeal to US supreme court

Related Matters

If a court has both subject matter and personal jurisdiction, there still may be other preliminary matters to consider, such as venue, forum non conveniens, and conflict of laws

CASE: Bristol Myers Squibb Co. vs. Superior Court

Issue: 600 plaintiffs fled lawsuit in California state court against BMS Claims based on injuries from the drug BMS is headquartered in NY and NJ Dismissed lawsuit for lack of personal jurisdiction Bc Cali had no personal jurisdiction over BMS, but could exercise specific personal jurisdiction. BMS Appealed Rule: Connection between non resident's claim and forum state is even weaker Relevant plaintiffs are not from Cali and do not claim to have suffered harm in that state Therefore, Cali Courts can NOT claim specific jurisdiction

What are the Courts of limited jurisdiction?

Limited to the kinds of cases they can hear i.e. justice of the peace courts, municipal courts, traffic courts, probate courts, domestic relations courts

Power to Adjudicate

Power to hear and decide a case and render a judgment that is legally binding on the parties

What does the Specialized US Courts do?

They are federal courts that have very specialized subject matter jurisdiction -ie US tax court (hears only fed tax cases), US Claims Courts (only hears cases against US govt)

What does the U.S District Courts do? (Fed District Courts)

They are the basic trial courts within federal system -Most federal cases originate in these courts

Writ of certiorari

an order of a higher court requiring a lower court to send to it the documentary record of the trial

What is the long arm statute?

gives court personal jurisdiction over nonresident defendant who has done business or committed a tort (punishable civil wrongdoing) within forum state

What is a In personam case?

case in which plaintiff seeks legally binding judgment against defendant

What is Personal Jurisdiction?

court's jurisdiction over the parties of the case

Subject matter jurisdiction of the federal courts involve what kind of cases?

criminal cases, civil cases**(most important)

What are in rem cases?

does not require personal jurisdiction; disputes over any item of property within forum state

What is personal service of summons?

formal notice of the lawsuit Personal service means delivery to the defendant in person while the defendant is physically within the forum state. Summons server can leave the summons at the defendant's home with someone older than 18 server can leave the summons at the defendant's regular workplace can mail the summons

What are fed question cases?

jurisdiction over any civil case in which the plaintiff's claim arises from the US constitution, a federal statue, or a federal treaty (rare)

What is forum non conveniens?

relinquishing of personal or subject matter jurisdiction by a court to another more convenient court EX: fire in virginia, plaintiff sued in NY but court moved the case to virginia

What is appearance?

taking any formal attempt to defend case, not only physical appearance -the defendant automatically submits to the court's personal jurisdiction if he or she makes an appearance. EXCEPTION: Special Appearance -a motion or other formal action taken by the defendant solely for the purpose of challenging the court's personal jurisdiction

What is jurisdiction?

the legal power of a governmental body or official to take some type of action

What is venue?

where a lawsuit is heard; typically in county where defendant resides or where accident or transaction took place