PowerPoint Slides to accompany
THE LEGAL ENVIRONMENT OF BUSINESS
AND ONLINE COMMERCE 5E,
by Henry R. Cheeseman
Chapter 2
Court Systems and Jurisdiction
Prentice Hall © 2007
1
Two Major Court Systems


Federal court system
Court systems of the 50 states and
the District of Columbia
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2
State Court Systems

Limited-jurisdiction trial courts


Courts that hear matters of specialized or
limited nature
General-jurisdiction trial courts

Courts that hear cases of a general nature
that are not within the jurisdiction of
limited-jurisdiction trial courts
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State Court Systems

Intermediate
appellate courts


Courts that hear appeals
from trial courts
Highest state court

Court that hears appeals
from intermediate state
courts and certain trial
courts
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Sample State Court System
State Supreme
Court
Appeal to US Supreme Court
State Appellate
Court
General Jurisdiction
Trial Court
Criminal Court
Civil
Court
Domestic
Relations
Probate
Court
Juvenile
Court
Small Claims
Court
Municipal
Court
Justice of
the Peace
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Special Federal Courts




U.S. Tax Court
U.S. Claims Court
U.S. Court of
International Trade
U.S. Bankruptcy
Court
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US District Courts


District courts are the federal court
system’s trial courts of general
jurisdiction.
Presently, there are 96 district
courts.
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US Courts of Appeals


US Courts of Appeals are the
federal court system’s intermediate
appellate courts.
There are 13 courts of appeals.
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8
US Supreme Court




Created by Article III of
the US Constitution
Highest court in the U.S.
Located in Washington,
D.C.
Composed of nine justices
who are nominated by
the President and
confirmed by the Senate
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9
Types of decisions




Unanimous
Majority
Plurality
Tie
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10
Federal Court System
US Supreme
Court
US Courts of Appeal
for 11 circuits
and DC circuit
Many Federal
Administrative
Agencies
US District
Courts
(96 districts)
US Bankruptcy
Courts
US Court of Appeals
for the Federal Circuit
US Tax
Court
US Claims
Court
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US Court of
International
Trade
US Patent
and Trademark
Office
11
Jurisdiction of Federal and State Courts
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Jurisdiction of Courts


Standing to sue—the plaintiff must have
some stake in the outcome of the lawsuit
Jurisdiction—the authority of a court to
hear a case
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13
Types of Jurisdiction



In personam jurisdiction—jurisdiction over the
parties to a lawsuit
In rem jurisdiction—jurisdiction to hear a case
because of jurisdiction over the property involved
in the lawsuit
Quasi in rem jurisdiction—jurisdiction which
allows a plaintiff who obtains a judgment in one
state to try to collect the judgment by attaching
property of the defendant located in another
state
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Long-Arm Statutes


Long-arm statute—a statute that extends a
state’s jurisdiction to nonresidents who
were not served a summons within
the state
Forum-selection clause—contract provision
that designates a certain court to hear any
dispute concerning nonperformance of the
contract
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15
Venue


Venue requires lawsuits to be heard by
the court with jurisdiction closest to the
location where incident occurred or
parties reside.
Change of venue may be requested in
order to find impartial jury.
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