o o o Three Fundamental Areas of Law Litigation refers to lawsuits the process of filing claims in court and ultimately going to trial Alternative dispute resolution any other formal or informal process used to settle disputes without resorting to a trial Generally cheaper and faster than litigation Court Systems The US has over 50 systems of courts State Courts Federal courts serve the entire country State courts The state and federal courts are in different buildings have different judges and hear different cases Each has special powers and certain limitations o However Texas has two top courts a Supreme Court for civil cases and a Court of Criminal Appeals for criminal cases Trial courts determine the facts of a particular dispute and apply to those facts the law given by earlier appellate court decisions Jurisdiction a court s power to hear a case There is one judge and will often but not always be a jury In court a plaintiff may start a lawsuit only in the court that has jurisdiction over that kind of case Subject Matter Jurisdiction a court has the authority to hear a particular type of case Trial Courts of Limited Jurisdiction these courts may hear only certain types of cases o o Juvenile hears cases only of minors Probate court is devoted to settling the estates of deceased personas o o General civil division may hear virtually any civil lawsuit Trial Courts of General Jurisdiction can hear a broad range of cases Personal Jurisdiction the legal authority to require the defendant to stand trial pay judgments and the like When plaintiffs file lawsuits defendants can make a special appearance t challenge a court s personal jurisdiction In this case if approved the lawsuit will be dismissed o Personal jurisdiction generally exists if For individuals the defendant is a resident of the state in which a lawsuit is filed For companies the defendant is doing business in that state The defendant takes a formal step to defend a lawsuit Most papers filed with a court count as formal steps but special appearances do not A summons is served on a defendant A summons is the court s written notice that a lawsuit has been filed against the defendant The summons must be delivered to the defendant when she is physically within the state in which the lawsuit is filed A long arm statue applies a statue that gives a court jurisdiction over someone who commits a tort signs a contract or conducts regular business activities in the state If all else fails a court still can still obtain jurisdiction under long arm statue Courts can only apply this if a defendant has had minimum contacts with a state Appellate Courts different from trial courts three or more judges hear the case There are no juries ever These courts do not hear witnesses or take new evidence o Appeals courts generally accept the facts given to them by trial courts and review the trial record to see if the court made errors of law An appeal court reviews the trial record to make sure that the lower court correctly applied the law to the facts Error of law because of this the appeals courts may require a new trial o Court of Appeals o o Appellant the part filing the appeal o Appellee the party opposing the appeal because it won at trial o Briefs written arguments on the case o Reversed nullified appellant wants to convince this o Affirmed permitted to stand appellee wants to convince this State Supreme Court o Highest court in the state accept some appeals from the court of appeals o o If the high courts regards a legal issue important it accepts the case In most cases seven judges called justices sit on the Supreme Court Federal Courts Two kinds of civil lawsuits are permitted in federal court federal question cases and diversity cases Federal Question Cases a case in which the claim is based on the United States Constitution a federal statue or a federal treaty Example EPA sues for property question of property is a federal statue Example sue based on monopoly based on a statue o o Diversity Cases 1 when the plaintiff and defendant are citizens of different states and 2 when the amount in dispute exceeds 75 000 Trial Courts The parties have the option to use a federal courts for a neutral field o o United States District Court States with a small population have one district o Other Trial Courts specialized trial courts o States with a large population have several Judges the President nominates all federal court judges from district court to Supreme Court Nominees must be confirmed by the Senate Appellate Courts o United States Courts of Appeals intermediate courts of appeals Divided into circuits of geographical areas There are 11 numbered circuits Within each circuit there are up to 50 judges 9th largest o United States Supreme Court Highest court in the country 9 justices on the Court The chief justice s special power comes from his authority to assign opinions to a given justice With the power to control the language thus influencing the other judges Writ of certiorari a petition asking the Supreme Court to hear a case 4 of 9 judges must vote in favor for it to be granted Litigation Pleadings the documents that begin a lawsuit consisting of the complaint the answer and sometimes a reply Complaint a short plain statement of the facts alleged and the legal claims made The purpose is to inform the defendant of the general nature of the claims Service when filing the complaint you ll get a Summons a paper ordering the defendant to answer the complaint within 20 days A sheriff will serve the two papers to the defendant Answer defendant has 20 days to file an answer The answer is a brief reply to each of the allegations in the complaint This way the court can concentrate only on the disputed issues or those denied If the defendant fails to answer in time the plaintiff will ask for a default judgment a decision that the plaintiff wins without trial because the defendant failed to answer in time Counter claim a second lawsuit by the defendant against the plaintiff Class action one plaintiff represents the entire group of plaintiffs including those who are unaware of the lawsuit or even unaware they were harmed Judgment on the Pleadings Motion a formal request to the court that the court take some step or issue some Motion to dismiss a request that the court terminate a case without permitting order it to go further Discovery the critical pre trial opportunity for both parties to learn the strengths and weaknesses of the opponent s