Business Law Ch. 2

acorne production, LLC v Tjeknavorian

(pg 15 textbook)

why is it important to comply with procedural laws

-If the rules are not followed the case will be lost and the decision will be final as if it was decided on the merits of the case.

Lawsuit steps civil

1. Filing suit- file complaint with clerk of court by plaintiff. sets forth jurisdiction of court, nature of claim, and remedy sought. 2. notice of suit- clerk issues summons or process, which gives defendant notice of the complaint 3. response - defendent has specific number of days to file an answer or a motion. answer will admit or deny facts. 4. discovery- facts asked for by either party

Jury tria procedure

1. Jury is chosen and sworn in 2. attorney for plaintiff makes opening statement to jury indicating nature of action and what the plaintiff expects to prove. normally followed by depfendant attorneys opening statement 3. plaintiff presents evidence in form of testimony of witnesses and exhibits designed to prove the allegations made in plaintiffs petition. plaintiff has burden of proving facts adequate to support the allegations of petition. if burden is not met, case can be dismissed and lawsuit ended. p's evidence is followd by d's evidence. d tries to disprove p's allegations. may present evidence excusing behavior complained of by p 4. attorneys of each side summarize evidence and argue their points in an attempt to win jury over to their version of case 5. judge instructs jury as to the points of law that govern the case. the judge has sole power to determine points of law, and jury decides what weight to give each point of evidence. 6. jury adjournes to jury room and in secret arrives at decision, called the verdict. the judge may set aside the verdict if it is contrary to law and evidence. if not, judge will enter judgment in accordance to verdict.

Federal courts have exclusive jurisdiction over bankruptcy, claims against the US, and patent/ copyright cases. These fed courts include

1. Special federal courts 2. federal district courts 3. federal courts of appeals 4. the US supreme court

state courts:

1. inferior courts 2. courts of original jurisdiction 3. apellate courts 4. special courts state supreme court --> state court of appeals--> state courts of original general jurisdiction (trial courts) ---> inferior courts (small claims/limited jurisdiction)

list the ordered events that occur when a civil action is brought

9.) List the ordered events that occur when a civil action is brought. 1.) FILING SUIT- The first step in a lawsuit is the filing of the complaint or petition with the clerk of the court by the plaintiff. This petition sets forth the jurisdiction of the court, the nature of the claim, and the remedy sought. 2.)NOTICE of SUIT- As soon as the petition is filed, the clerk issues a summons or, as it is sometimes called, a process. This gives the defendant notice of the complaint and informs the defendant of the time in which to respond. 3.)RESPONSE-The defendant has a specified number of days available in which to file an answer or a motion. The answer admits or denies the facts alleged in the complaint. A motion is an application to the judge for an order requiring an act be done in favor of the moving party. The complaint and answer constitute the first pleadings. 4.)DISCOVERY- To obtain information relevant to the subject matter of the action, the parties may request unprivileged information from another party in a number of ways, called discovery, including: --A.)INTERROGATORIES:-Written questions to be answered in writing. --B.)DEPOSITIONS:- Examinations of a party or potential witness outside courts under oath. --C.)ADMISSIONS:-Requests to agree that a certain fact is true or a matter of law is decided. --D.)MEDICAL EXAMINATION BY A PHYSICIAN --E.)ACCESS TO REAL and PERSONAL PROPERTY 5.)FACT FINDING-If disagreements occur about facts of the case, a jury may be impaneled to decide these facts. If neither party requests a jury, the case may be tried before a judge alone, who would act as both judge and jury.

what is the procedure by which an appellate court learns about a case

A appellate court is requested by a losing party from a previous trial that claims an error occurred. The appellate court will review the appeal. -A complete transcript or written record of the trial court proceedings is given to the appellate court. -Rather than hear testimony from witnesses, the appellate court reviews proceedings from the transcript. -The attorneys for each side file a written brief, setting forth their arguments as to why the appellate court should either affirm or reverse the judgment of the lower court. -The decision of the appellate court becomes judicial precedent and is binding on lower courts.

Cheap escape Co. Inc. V Haddox LLC (ohio)

Cheap Escape Co published a magazine and in summit county, Ohio entered contracts to sell ads in the mag to Haddox LLC. The contract states any legal action based on them will be in Franklin county municipal court or franklin county common pleas. Haddox defaulted on the contacts so cheap escape sued. Court reasoned the court must have territorial conenction to case so they reversed the verdict and dismissed the case

State vs. congress on commerce

The US constitution gives congress power to regulate commerce "among the several states" aka interstate commerce. If passed congressional laws are challenged on constitutional grounds, the court must decide whether the law is a regulation of interstate commerce

State courts

There are 50 different state court systems, each being part of a state court system headed at its state capital. Although fed and state court systems have many differences, they serve similar functions.

Court functions

To interpret and apply the law from whatever source to a given situation.

Once court system jurisdiction is determined,

a location must be decided upon to try a case. (aka venue).

what court would settle: a. unpaid bill of $100 b. dispute over amount of income tax owed c. allegation lower court made a mistake d. controversy among cousins regarding their shares of a deceased granpas estate e. divorce case f. damage suit for $7,500

a. inferior court b. us fed tax court c appelate court d. probate court e. domestic relations court f. court of original general jurisdiction

who are the officers of a. inferior court b. state court of record c. federal court

a. judge b. sheriff c. marshall

why are courts of general jurisdiction referred to as courts of record

because it is a form of court in which all the official records of proceedings are kept permanently

judge, justice of the peace, magistrate, or trial justice

chief officer of court

domestic relations court

court handles divorce and related cases

court of record

court in which the official record of the proceedings is kept. (courts of original gen. jurisdiction aka trial courts). an official permanent record is kept showing the testimony, evidence, statements of the counsel / judge, the judgement and findings of the court.

sheriff

court of record executive officer

courts of original general jurisdiction

court of record in which case is first tried. covers disputes between 2 or more parties and criminal offenses against the state. occasionally they hear appeals from inferior courts, but they are not appellate because they are retrying the case.

trial court

court that conducts original trial of a case

appellate court

court that reviews the decision of another court. Includes courts of appeals and supreme courts.binds lower courts by their decisions.

marshall

executive officer of fed court

Each state has 2 distinct court systems

federal and state.

diversity jurisdiction

federal jurisdiction baed on parties being from different states

special federal court

federal trial court with limited jurisdiction. Limited by laws of congress. The court of int. trade hears cases involving rates of duty on classes of goods etc. The US court of federal claims hears cases about claims against the US government. The US tax court hears cases involving tax coontroversy. Bankruptcy courts decide bankrup. cases, most with a 3 judge appellate panel of judges.

juvenile court

handles delinquent, dependent, and neglected children.

probate court

handles estates

supreme court of the us

highest court in American. has original jurisdiction in cases affecting ambassadors, oublic ministers, and consuls, and cases where states are parties. it has apellate jurisdiction in cases based on the constitution, fed laws, and treaties.

state supreme court

highest in most states

appeals

if p or d is dissatisfied with the judgement and can cite an error of law by the court, an appeal may generally be taken to higher court.

state courts of appeals

intermediate appellate court.

Long arm statute

law allowing a state to have jurisdiction over nonresidents. Enacted because Americans travel often. If you get into an accident in another state, a long arm statue would allow the person you hit to sue you in your home state.

procedural law

law specifying how actions are filed and what trial procedure to follow. they specify how parties are to go forward with filing civil actions and how these actions may be tried. method of enforcing rights/ getting compensation for violation of rights.

venue

location where a case can be tried

discovery

means of obtaining info from other party before a trial

must a party to a lawsuit be represented by a lawyer?

no, but it is recommended as lawyers have the best unbiased representation methods

summons or process

notice of suit

writ of certiorari

order to produce a record of a case. Usually the normal way a case gets to the Supreme Court is by application for this writ of certiorari. This is a record of a lower court case which can be used for supreme court review.

Federal Courts are

part of the federal government headed in washington, D.C.

defendant

person against whom a case is filed

lawyer or attorney

person licensed to represent others in court

plaintiff

person who begins a civil lawsuit

state v guyer

pg 18

Answer or motion

response of defendant to a complaint

over what must a court have jurisdiction before it can try a case

subject matter of case (what kind of court), persons involved (nonresidents or residents) , and geographical location. (varies)

jurisdiction

the authority of a court to hear a case. before any court can hear a case, it must be established that the court has jurisdiction over the subject matter of the case, persons involved, and geographical location where the events occurred.

Subject matter jurisdiction is

the authority to hear a particular type of case or relating to a specific subject matter. EX: a probate court cannot handle an automobile accident case because they deal with the distribution of deceased people's property.

federal court of appeals

the us is divided geographically into 12 fed judicial circuits.each circuit has a court of appeals which hears cases from within it's circuit.

what is the chief function of the courts

to interpret and apply the law.

federal district court

trial court of federal court system. Around one hundred courts. At least one to four of these exists per state. Trial courts against criminal violations of federal laws.

inferior court

trial court that hears only cases involving minor offenses and disputes. can be called district/county/magistrate/ small claims/justice/taxi courts. 1k-25k

How does a party get a case to the US supreme court

usually writ of certiorari. This is a record of a lower court case which can be used for supreme court review.

complaint or petition

written request to a court to settle a dispute