Chapter 2 - The Court Systems
Define Personal Jurisdiction
power of a court to lawfully bind a party involved in a dispute before it simply put - the plaintiff and the defendant reside in the state where you want to file a lawsuit in the state court
What is Jurisdiction?
"the power to speak of the law" a court's jurisdiction defines the limits within which it may declare, administer, or apply the law
Define the motion of Removal
- removes a case from a state court (because they are not a resident of that state) to a federal court system - theory being that the federal judges are not biased based on where one of the parties originally resides
What is the rule in the U.S. about legal costs? How is this different from foreign countries?
- that each party involved in the lawsuit pays their own legal costs - in foreign countries, the loser pays everybody's legal costs
Define Diversity of Citizenship. What is the purpose for allowing Federal Jurisdiction handle this?
- the plaintiff and the defendant live in different states - the purpose is to provide a neutral forum for handling such disputes
Define the motion of Forum non Conveniens
- a concept that says, you need to have the trial that is most convenient for the majority of the people involved with the case - this one is not as likely as the others to be granted
Describe the Long-Arm Statute
- a state law that permits a state's courts to reach beyond the state's boundaries for jurisdiction over nonresident defendants if they committed a wrong within the court's territorial boundaries or conduct business within the state
Describe the Appellate Court
- based on law and procedure, NOT facts -appellate jurisdiction: matters of rights are appealed to the first level of appellate jurisdiction and matters of discretion of the court at the second level
Describe the U.S. District Courts.
- courts of original jurisdiction in the federal system (trial courts) - only courts in the Federal System that use juries - usually only one judge hears your case - use magistrates
How do you request an appeal with the Supreme Court? How is your case chosen?
- have to file a writ of certiorari - in order for the court to take your appeal only 4 of the 9 justices have to agree to hear your case - if they reject your appeal than the ruling at the Courts of Appeal is final
Describe the Supreme Court
- highest court in the country - created by the U.S. Constitution - 9 justices - 1 is appointed Chief Justice
Jurisdiction over Out-of-State Business Defendants
- if a defendant is a resident of another state, they need only be passing through the state in which the incident occurred to be served with summons - Long-arm Statute
Once the complaint is filed, the question is, what is the appropriate law to resolve the dispute?
- if the lawsuit is filed in the federal court system, the federal court will always supply its rules of procedure - unless it's a matter that relates specifically to a federal law, the federal court is obligated to apply the state law to resolve the dispute - if you're in a state court system, the state court is going to apply its rules of procedures and then the state court has to figure out which state's law applies
What is a magistrate?
- judicial officers that work in federal district courts to try cases when there is a backlog - both parties must consent to bringing their case before the magistrate instead of a judge - typically NOT a lawyer, but they do have legal knowledge and facilitate for the judge
Define the motion of Venue
- just relates to the proper place where a lawsuit can and should be heard - the motion by a defendant to change the venue usually relates to a case with a lot of publicity - can go from state to state, state to federal, or even federal to state
Describe the Historic Body of Law. Give example
- look to where the underlying incident occurred and that is the state law to apply Example: if there is a contract dispute, you signed your lease with the landlord in SC but they reside in GA and you reside in NC - the law where the contract was signed (SC) is the one you use to resolve the dispute **Do NOT care where the plaintiff and defendant reside, what matters is WHERE the beginning of the dispute began
Describe the U.S. Courts of Appeal
- may review federal district court decisions on questions of laws and procedures - NOT facts! - usually only 3 judges hear the case at this level - en banc proceeding: all the active judges in a circuit hear a case
Describe Specialized Federal Courts
- these courts have limited / special jurisdiction within the federal court system, and their jurisdictions are defined in terms of subject matter
Describe the District Courts
- trial courts - courts of general jurisdiction: have the authority to decide almost any kind of dispute and are able to grant virtually every type of relief - mosts state courts have a similar process: EXCEPT Louisiana - it runs on a Napoleonic code of law
Describe the Emerging Body of Law. Give example
- you have to apply the law in the state that has the most significant interest in resolving the dispute Example: people who live in SC get involved in a car wreck in NC, so those people are injured and are going to sue whoever ran into them. - the state that holds the most interest, is the state the injured people reside in (SC)
What are the 4 main things a plaintiff looks at to determine where to file a lawsuit?
1. Jurisdiction 2. Previous case law (form shopping) 3. Jury trial 4. Location
What are the 4 most popular Courts of Limited/Special Jurisdiction in state?
1. Municipal Court - deals with traffic violations 2. Justice of the Peace Courts - marriage licenses 3. Probate Courts - deals only with the wills of dead people in their state 4. Small Claims Court - designed to help you resolve disputes quicker and cheaper - jurisdiction to small claims (the dollar amount) max $2,000 in Ohio and up to $10-12,000 in other states
What are the 3 possible motions a defendant can take to try and change where the litigation is going to take place?
1. Removal 2. Venue 3. Forum non Conveniens
Describe the 3 levels of court.
1. Courts of Original Jurisdiction - where a plaintiff files a lawsuit to begin with *Jurisdiction: the court has the ability to hear the case and issue a binding judgment - if either party is unhappy with the decision rendered at this court, and they either 1) allege that law was improperly applied, 2) the wrong law was applied, or 3) the rules and procedures weren't followed, then they have the right to have their case heard at the Appellate Court 2. Appellate Court - you can NOT appeal questions of facts. - facts are determined at the Court of Original Jurisdiction. the plaintiff and the defendant have the burden to make sure the facts are straightened out at the first court - if any party is not happy they can REQUEST the Supreme Court to hear their case 3. Supreme Court - makes the decision if they want to hear the case or not - there is NO right to have your case heard at the Supreme Court
What are the 3 levels of court?
1. Courts of Original Jurisdiction 2. Appellate Court 3. Supreme Court
What are the names of the 4 courts on the State level?
1. District / Superior / County Courts 2. Appellate Courts 3. State Supreme Court 4. Courts of Limited or Special Jurisdiction
Exclusive vs. Concurrent Jurisdiction
1. Exclusive Jurisdiction - granted by law either for state or federal - if the law said that only the federal courts had exclusive jurisdiction then the plaintiff has no choice but to file the complaint in the federal court system & vice versa 2. Concurrent Jurisdiction - when both the federal and state court systems have jurisdiction over a case - EXCEPTION is when the people live in separate states for federal court only if $75,000 or more
What are the 2 Bodies of Law?
1. Historic 2. Emerging
What are the names of the 4 courts on the Federal level?
1. U.S. District Courts 2. U.S. Courts of Appeal 3. U.S. Supreme Court 4. Specialized Courts
What are the 4 types of Specialized Federal Courts? Describe them.
1. U.S. Tax Court - hears tax disputes with the IRS 2. U.S. Court of Federal Claims - monetary claims against the government - a lot of indian tribes suing the government because their land was taken 3. U.S. Federal Circuit Court - appeals involving intellectual/intangible property 4. U.S. Court of International Trade - appeals involving customs matters
What are the 3 reasons you can get your case appealed at the Appellate Court?
1. allege that law was improperly applied 2. the wrong law was applied 3. the rules of procedures were not followed
What are the 4 main facts about State Judges?
1. elected or appointed by the governor 2. only judge for a fixed/limited amount of years 3. have to be re-elected or re-appointed -makes them more susceptible to outside pressures 4. have judicial immunity
What are the 2 most important facts about the State Supreme Court?
1. has discretion whether or not to hear the case ***2. most litigation in the U.S. takes place in the state courts not the federal -they have more jurisdiction over broader issues
In what 3 situations do courts have jurisdiction in regards to an individual?
1. if the person does business in the state 2. if you injure someone in a certain state 3. if you are traveling through the state and you have a complaint against you
What are the most common issues that reach the highest Appellate Court in a state (State Supreme Court)?
1. involve the validity of a state law 2. the state constitution 3. a federal law as it is affected by a state law
What are the 4 main facts about Federal Judges?
1. nominated by the president and confirmed by a majority vote in the senate 2. lifetime appointment - only impeached for severe crimes and misdemeanors 3. decide disputes SOLELY on the law and not subject to outside pressures - because of the lifetime appointment 4. have judicial immunity - immune from being sued for damages from all judicial actions
What types of cases does the Supreme Court take?
1. questions involving the U.S. Constitution - if you think your constitutional rights are violated 2. two state courts reach two different verdicts on similar facts 3. if they think your issue is of national importance
What two types of jurisdiction does a court have to have to resolve a dispute?
1. subject-matter jurisdiction 2. personal jurisdiction
In what 3 situations do courts have jurisdiction over a corporation?
1. the court is in the state in which the corporation was incorporated 2. the court is in the state where the corporation has its headquarters or its main plant 3. the court is in a state in which the corporation is doing business
What type of Court System does the U.S. have?
A 3 tier system
In addition to the 3 levels of court, what is the other type of court the U.S. has?
Specialized Courts Courts of Limited or Special Jurisdiction
What types of cases does the Supreme Court mostly NEVER take?
cases that are of limited importance or very technical -such as tax issues, patents, trademarks, etc
What is the Appellate Court more concerned with?
correcting errors in the application of the law and making sure proper procedure was followed in the trial court proceeding
Define Subject-Matter Jurisdiction
created by a constitution or a stature regarding the types of disputes a court can accept to resolve
How do you avoid the conflict of law problem?
easiest way is to have the parties agree in advance, if there is a dispute (and its easy when its a document) to have a certain law to be applied
What are the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure?
govern the procedure of the litigation process, including the pleadings, discovery, trial procedures, and relevant motions. These rules govern only civil litigation MOST states have adopted these and only some have modified them
In Rem Jurisdiction
if the dispute relates to property, the court where that property is located has jurisdiction to resolve disputes
Who gets to decide where to file a lawsuit?
the plaintiff and the attorney
Conflict of Law Rules
these are rules that tell us how to determine which law applies to a conflict to solve a dispute
What is the principle function of a trial court (Court of Original Jurisdiction)?
to determine the facts in the dispute and to apply the appropriate law to those facts in making a decision or judgment
Subject-Matter Jurisdiction in the Federal Courts
under the U.S. Constitution, the federal courts may hear only those cases within the judicial power to hear cases involving federal question: U.S. Constitutional questions, bankruptcy law, cases where there is a Diversity of Citizenship, and the amount in dispute is $75,000 or more
