MGMT 211 Lecture 6 Outline of Last Lecture I Chapter 3 Continued Texas Court System II Federal Court System a Constitutional Court System III Supreme Court Outline of Current Lecture I II Chapter 3 Continued a Territorial jurisdiction and subject matter jurisdiction to hear a case b Territorial Jurisdiction in detail Chapter 4 a Contracts Current Lecture I Chapter 3 Continued a A court must have both types of jurisdiction to hear your case subject matter jurisdiction and territorial jurisdiction b Territorial jurisdiction i Court has to be able to make the litigants come to their court 1 Civil case they have to make defendant come to their court ii General rule you can always sue a defendant where the defendant lives 1 Do you want to sue someone where they live or make them come to you You have home field advantage 2 It may be different where they live a Judge friend went to El Paso and shows up at 8 30 to start he is always on time and people in El Paso are not on time iii You can t proceed with a lawsuit until you ve served the defendant with process 1 Service of process process server anyone approved by court walks up to you ask if you are so and so you say yes and they hand you a packet 2 From the day of service you only have a certain amount to file an answer a If not plaintiff can go to court take a default judgment against you and get everything they re asking for iv If people know they will be sued they are going to avoid process serving 1 Texas allows different methods of service a Certified mail with return receipt requested that defendant is the only one who signs i If they see it s from district county clerk they don t take it and have not been served v What if you altogether don t want to be served 1 If they are trying to hide out you must try one of first 2 2 Process server will then file an affidavit that they are avoiding he she 3 Then different ways a Nail papers to front door b Can serve someone over the age of 14 i Can serve your roommate ii If you miss the deadline because of them you re still liable c Can print it in the newspaper i If it comes out in hometown paper that you re sued for paternity mom may find out before paper comes to front door ii Has to run several times before day of service declared 4 Once you ve been served you ve been served vi Can t ordinarily serve someone outside of Texas 1 Exceptions long armed jurisdictional statute a Interstate compact agreements between states b Still closely watched by federal people c Example you drive to LSU and you have a wreck in Boudreaux Parish you can be served there because you used their roads without paying for them i You are giving them jurisdiction d Dad skips out to Maine and doesn t pay child support mom can sue him in Maine 2 In rem jurisdiction over the thing over the subject matter of the lawsuit a Whatever the lawsuit is about is in that state i Grandma dies in Minnesota left you a dairy farm ii You never went to Minnesota and know dairy farming is hard iii Call real estate agent and ask to sell iv All but land sold 3 years go by and you haven t paid Minnesota taxes on it v Minnesota can due you for back due taxes because land subject matter is in Minnesota 3 Quasi in rem a Probably doesn t exist anymore states got greedy b You have right to own property in Texas and other states by Federal law and Constitution i If a state interferes with right violation of due process c States trying to take any property you have and hold it as ransom saying you ve been sued there and you must come defend the lawsuit i If you lose we sell your property ii Feds told them that s not ok d Minimal contacts rule lawsuit and property seized have to have minimal contact i Courts interrelated e Probably won t work vii Who hears the case 1 Venue geographical location of all courts that have jurisdiction that will hear your case a Criminal where did the crime occur i Change of venue motions lawyer feels client has been convicted in the newspapers 1 Boy murder in Lubbock had been abused beaten 2 Change of venue because everyone wanted him to pay move to Wichita Falls b Civil you can sue a defendant where the defendant lives i You don t want to do that ii Exceptions 1 Corporations you can sue them a Where the registered agent is b Where they re headquartered won t work if out of state c Any county where they do business i Some counties are known as benevolent and you want to go there ii Was Matagorda County iii Forum shopping look for County that would give you your desired answer iv Forum non convenes rule if you get taken to a county that has nothing to do with the lawsuit you can challenge it and say it s not the most convenient forum for all parties iii Not always going to be where you want it iv Court has to have jurisdiction and proper court of venue 2 Continue with lawsuit a Starts with plaintiff filing the lawsuit b Next defendant served with process c Begins pleadings phase i Pleadings Discovery Pre trial Trial and Appellate ii Pleadings getting papers in orders filing motions objections petitions only certain amount of time 1 Civil rules of federal procedure not adopted by Texas day you ve been served add 20 days next Monday at 10am 2 Can last months years iii Discovery Trying to discover what other side has on you show them what you have on them 1 Deposition you order witness to appear at certain location where they re sworn in and questioned a Expensive pay attorney to be there travel expenses witness for time pay court reporter have to have copies b Sets the person s testimony c Wants to use their locked in testimony against them or to save it in case of emergency you could possibly die d Expensive but invaluable 2 Interrogatory limited to a party of the lawsuit written questions sent to a party of the lawsuit asking for answers they file with the court a pattern interrogatories may not always apply to the case harassment case b Limited interrogatory 2 sets with 20 answers each only certain questions 3 Request for admissions make them admit entire lawsuit unlimited can only go to party 4 Then walk into pre trial ask for summary judgment motion look at pleadings and discovery and judge can end case 5 Judgment is not equal to money or results 6 Motion for discovery get paperwork documentation things you can look at a Other side doesn t cooperate file sanction make them …