Chapter 3

Purpose: Solving legal disputes and upholding legal rights

• Goal To provide reasonable consistency and

neutrality to eliminate bias • Court

place where facts are determined and rules applied

• LitigationActual lawsuits; take dispute to court and

going through the legal procedures.Some cases do get settled out of court

Jurisdiction: authority to decide certain types of cases • original: hears cases for the first time • general: hears all types of cases • limited (exclusive): one particular type of

case (divorce, juvenile, traffic) • appellate: cases on appeal

• Always limited by geographic location (if you get a ticket in Wisconsin, your court date will be in Wisconsin)

• Venue – the proper place to bring a lawsuit – venue has been changed in cases due to bias - JOHN WAYNE GACY

Trial Courts- determine facts of disputes hear evidence for the first time.Hears witnesses testify & reviews other

evidence to determine facts of the case• Original Jurisdiction, entry level court• Can have general or limited subject

matter jurisdiction• Judges, lawyers, clerks, bailiffs (keep

peace & summon witnesses) Marshals do the same in federal courts

Appellate Courts – review decisions of lower courts; review transcripts • transcripts are verbatim records of what went

on in the trial – ct. reporter • do not hear new evidence or make new

determination of facts• was the law correctly applied in the lower

courts? • Prepare Appellate Briefs – written arguments

on the issues of law

State Supreme Court – determines the outcome of any issue disputed within the state’s border

No appeal from here unless: Matter of national interest Constitutional issueTinker vs. Des Moines

US District Court US Court of Appeals US Supreme Court Supreme Court Justice are appointed by the

President and have no term limit i.e., Justice Sonia Sotomayor was appointed by

President Obama this summer and confirmed by the Senate

U.S. Supreme Court

13 U.S. Courts of Appeals

StateSupremeCourts

U.S. DistrictCourts

SpecializedFederalCourts

Many FederalAgencies

• Original jurisdiction • Geographic jurisdiction

• decision is usually final • appeal is usually from the US District Courts

• Usually only hears Constitutional issues “significantly important”;

• Has appellate jurisdiction • Ability to review and change outcomes of lower

courts

• “write of certiorari” orders the state ct. to overturn the record of the case to the SC for review

• Jury selection (voir dire) - questioning of prospective jurors to expose possible bias

• People involved in the process include a judge, defense's attorneys, plaintiff's/prosecuting attorneys

• Reason for jury selection is to determine if a potential juror's experience makes him or her unable to be fair during a trial

• Challenges for Cause - no limit for excusing juror FOR CAUSE

• Preemptory Challenge - excuse potential juror for no reason. There is a limit on this:6 in Civil cases8 in Criminal cases

• To be exempt from jury duty:non-citizen, minor, convicted criminal, lived in

state less than 1 year, or cannot read/write Englishcan be temporarily excused 

• Judge determines questions of law• Jury determines questions of fact

• The Pleadings (beginning process before a trial date is set)Complaint - file a complaint with the proper

court.  States the charges being made and outlines the facts supporting the lawsuit.

Summons - defendant is served.  Defendant is notified of lawsuit and this notice is delivered directly to the defendant by a process server.

Answer - defendant must file a written answer.  Defendant may not admit/deny plaintiff's charges.  This leaves the "burden of proof" with the plaintiff.

Reply - plaintiff must submit a reply.  This is also called the "pre-trial hearing" or "discover"

Purpose of The Pleadings:inform the parties of claims against themnarrows down the points of dispute (issues) of

the parties

Judgment by default - when the plaintiff does not show up to court

 Out of Court Settlement (usually at Discovery) - saves time and expense of a trialmediator - a third party brought in to find a

fair solution, finds voluntarily agreement on both sides

arbitrator - same function as a mediator BUT both sides MUST agree, decision can be legally forced

 Subpoena - must appear in court to testify