Trial Courts Where you start a case Parties o Plaintiff they initiate the lawsuit o Defendant they are forced to come to court to defend themselves o Judge the party that presides over the hearing Their function is to apply the law to the case Before jury deliberation they read a set of instructions of the law to the jury o Jury of Peers their function is to determine the facts in the case Procedural Differences o Evidence is presented o Witnesses are called Transcript o Official record of what happened Appellate Courts Court of appeals when you lose a case Parties o Appellant Petitioner they file the appeal o Appellee Respondent the party whom the appeal is being filed against o Justices 3 they are looking for errors of law Procedural Differences o No jury no witnesses o First thing to be done a brief is written it is a very long writing where the attorney cites the errors of law it includes what prior cases relate to this case argument in writing o The appellee writes a brief o Friend of the Court brief done by an outside party or industry o Next there is an oral argument however the justices can interrupt whenever they want o Lastly there is an impression vote Opinion o Official record of what happened authored by a justice that voted with the majority Case Citation WWWVWagon Corporation v Woodson Volume S Ct Page Year o Case 100 S Ct 559 1980 Jannusch v Naffziger 883 N E 2d 711 Ill Ct App 2008 o Case Volume N E Series Page Illinois Court of Appeals Year Decisions Affirm the lower court s decision o There was NO error of law Reverse the lower court s decision o There WAS an error of law Reverse and Remand o There was an error of law The lower court s decision needs to be sent back to trial Double jeopardy does not play into this situation because it is a continuation of the original trial o Written opinion authored by a justice of the majority o It is a legally controlling decision it sets the precedent o Written opinion authored by a justice of the minority J Smith Dissenting o It can NOT be cited as precedent o Written opinion authored by a justice of the majority o They felt so strongly about the case that they needed to write their own Types of Opinions Majority Opinion Dissenting Opinion Concurring Opinion opinion Briefing a Case 1 Name of case 2 Action 3 Facts 4 Issue 5 Ruling 6 Reasoning a Brief summary a Why did they win Defining the Term Law Scheme of social control a Divorce criminal tort appellate etc a The legal issue the court is there to answer Doctrine of Separation of Powers Horizontal three separate but equal branches of government o Federal State City Township o President Governor Mayor executive branch o Congress General Assembly City Council Board of Trustees legislative branch Vertical federalism The Power of Judicial Review o Marbury v Madison 1803 U S Supreme Court Case President Adams made several Midnight Appointees the night before he finished up his term Jefferson didn t want to appoint all of these people so he told the Secretary of State Madison to not appoint these people Marbury wanted his position and commission so he sued This decision created the Power of Judicial Review Chief Justice Marshall He found this as an opportunity to give the courts more power than what they weren t granted in Article III Sources of the Law Constitutions o U S Constitution It is the ultimate source of law The first three articles determine our three branches of government Article III gives judicial branch their power It gives Congress power to create courts when necessary o State constitutions Statutes o U S Code passed by Congress signed by the President o Ohio Revised Code state statutes o Ordinance city level o Board resolutions townships Case Law Common Law o Precedent oriented legal system Definition of precedent Prior decisions are legally binding on future decisions Reasons for following precedent To prevent chaos Reasons to deviate from precedent Distinguish facts shows precedential cases are not applicable to your case Old precedent obsolete Erroneous decision the judge misinterpreted the law Classifying legal systems Civil system v Common law system o Civil systems Spain France Louisiana Italy and Portugal don t set precedent they have less cases but way more statutes Administrative law Made by administrative agencies Federal SEC IRS EPA Local zoning boards health boards Executive orders Treaties Agreements with foreign countries Entered by President with advice and consent of Senate Classifying Laws 1 Procedural Laws v Substantive Laws admissible Etc 2 Public Laws v Private Laws a Public Laws all of us a Procedural Laws laws of the game how long will What evidence is b Substantive Laws guts of controversy failure to stop car in time etc i Criminal laws city ordinances ii Administrative laws iii Constitutional laws b Private Laws affects a couple entities i Contract law ii Property law iii Torts wrongdoing on a person malpractice personal injury o Compensate innocent o To punish wrongdoer Classifying types of cases Civil Cases Plaintiffs o v Purposes victim Procedures o Time frame 2 3 years o Grand jury NO o Burdens of proof Clear and convincing evidence standard 65 75 Preponderance of the evidence standard manifest weight of the evidence standard 51 o Which burden of proof to use is dependent on what type of remedy the plaintiff is seeking Criminal Cases Plaintiffs o Government state represented by prosecutor Purposes Procedures o Time frame 1 year o Grand jury YES issues indictment or dismisses case normally about 23 peers they meet with the prosecutor to see if the evidence is sufficient to proceed to trial o Burdens of proof Beyond a reasonable doubt 90 95 o Which burden of proof to use is dependent on what type of remedy the plaintiff is seeking Petit jury presides at both types of trials jury duty determines the facts Types of civil remedies Remedies at law legal remedies v remedies at equity equitable remedies o Remedies at law monetary damages o Remedies at equity do something or stop from doing something Historical development o King of England Church officials presides over equity Typical remedies at law damages o Burden of proof 3 preponderance of the evidence standard manifest weight of the evidence standard o Compensatory damages remedy made whole again o Punitive damages can get 3 times as much will only add this in unintentional tort o Nominal damages a technical victory usually 1 or 10 o Liquidated damages formula in the contract o If
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