LEGL 2700 1st Edition Lecture 4 Outline of Last Lecture B Jurors C Lawyers II Organization of the Court System A State Court System B Federal Court System C Trial Courts D Appellate Courts E Supreme Court I Litigation Start of Chapter 4 II Parties A Plaintiff v Defendant B Counterclaims C Third party defendant D Class Actions Outline of Current Lecture III Requirements for bringing suit A Standing These notes represent a detailed interpretation of the professor s lecture GradeBuddy is best used as a supplement to your own notes not as a substitute B Personal Jurisdiction IV Pretrial Process A Pleadings B Discovery V Trial A Jury Selection B Opening Statement C Presentation of Evidence D Closing Argument E Jury Instructions F Jury Verdict Current Lecture Chapter 4 III Requirements for bringing suit court doesn t make sure a case has these they are only fought when the defendant believes one or more of them is not met A Standing comes from the constitution you have a legally protectable right that you are seeking to enforce in court Actual case or controversy you must have a legal claim can t sue someone for stealing your boyfriend must be a real life actual dispute can t just think your about to be in one one has to already exist Personal stake in the resolution of the dispute must have some personal connection to the case you yourself has to have been hurt someway can t sue someone for hitting your roommates car if you were not in the car with her B Personal Jurisdiction the power of the court over certain individuals and corporations state by state issue criminal cases personal jurisdiction always in the state it happened Ways to establish jurisdiction over defendants 1 if defendant voluntarily shows up to court 2 if defendant is served with process in the state which the court is located 3 if the lawsuit contains a tort in the state where the court is located 4 if you own property in the state where the court is located and the property is what the lawsuit is over 5 if you entered a contract or transacted business in the state where the court is located IV Pretrial Process A Pleadings initial papers filed by each side to start the lawsuit Complaint plaintiff files this Says what exactly happened how that violated the law and what they want in relief Answer defendant files this after receiving the complaint Must respond to each and every allegation in the complaint If you plan to counterclaim this is when you do it Reply only comes up if there is a counterclaim B Discovery longest phase of most cases both sides find all the info they need for their case both sides are aware of the other sides findings before the trail helps encourage settlement b c when both sides know what the other side has against them they have a good idea of who will win and are more likely to settle Interrogatories written question and answer under oath ex list all your insurance agreements at the time of the accident Requests for Production of Documents asking someone for any physical evidence they have in their possession biggest driver in the cost of discovery once you receive a request for production of documents you are obligated to not destroy any evidence regarding the issue from here on out Depositions in person questions and answer under oath helps to lock in evidence Requests for Admission yes or no question and answer under oath ex were you driving a 2002 Toyota that night V Trial A Jury Selection Voire dire attorneys select the jury room full of potential jurors and attorneys can question them about almost anything if one attorney doesn t like the juror then Challenge for cause attorney must have a good reason to not have the juror on the case usually occurs if the juror is biased attorneys get an unlimited number of these Peremptory challenge attorney just doesn t like something about the juror limited number of these based on the case only reason you can t use is race and gender B Opening Statement both sides present a preview of their case to the jury C Presentation of Evidence call up witnesses and they testify plaintiff goes first and defendant second D Closing Argument each side gets to summarize the evidence try to convince to jury of what the outcome should be E Jury Instructions judge acquaints the jury with the law that applies to this case F Jury Verdict the jury gets together to make a final decision on punishment Burdens of Proof Beyond a Reasonable Doubt criminal lawsuit the jury is 100 sure of their decision Preponderance of the Evidence civil lawsuit when jury thinks the case could go either way they pick the side it is slightly leaning towards so jury is about 51 sure Clear and Convincing Proof civil lawsuit somewhere between beyond a reasonable doubt and preponderance of the evidence