The Court System
Jurisdiction & Venue
Jack Friery
UCSD Extension
Intro to Legal System
Class 2 of 3
Review - Sources of Law
 Federal and State constitutions – establish the federal and
state governments and enumerate their powers.
 International law—treaties.
 Federal and State statutes – enacted by the U.S. Congress
and state legislatures
 Administrative law – Agencies are created by the
legislature and executive branches of government.
 Case decisions and principles forming common law –
Court-decided controversies
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Why are the Courts Important?
 The laws would be
meaningless without courts
to enforce, interpret, and
apply them.
 Society changes its view
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Fifty-two Court Systems
 Each of the fifty states has its own court system
 The District of Columbia has its own court system
 The federal courts constitute a separate court system
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Federal System not superior
 The federal courts are not superior to the state courts; they
are two independent court systems
 The systems run concurrently
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Jurisdiction
 In Latin, juris, means “law” and dicere means to “speak”
 Thus, the term means "the power to speak the law.”
 In order to hear a case, a court must have jurisdiction over
the person or the property, as well as subject matter, involved
in the dispute.
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Types of Jurisdiction
 A court must have jurisdiction to hear and decide a case.
 There are two primary types of jurisdiction:
 Subject-matter
 In personam (personal), or In rem (property)
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Jurisdiction Over Persons
 Courts can exercise personal jurisdiction over residents
of a certain geographical area
 Long-arm statutes – allow state courts to exercise
personal jurisdiction over nonresident defendants, such as
individuals or corporations in other states.
 Nonresidents must have “minimum contacts” with the
state before the court can exercise jurisdiction.
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Minimum Contacts
 Example:
 If an individual from State A causes a car crash in State B, the “minimum
contacts” requirement would be met.
 The court in State B could exercise jurisdiction over the individual from
State A.
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Jurisdiction Over Property
 Courts can exercise
jurisdiction over
property located within
their boundaries
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Jurisdiction Over
Subject Matter
 Limitation on the types of cases the court can hear
 General Jurisdiction
 Limited Jurisdiction
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General Jurisdiction
 Courts that can hear a variety of cases including:
 Civil cases
 Criminal cases
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Limited Jurisdiction
 Courts whose jurisdiction is limited to certain types of cases
 Examples
 Probate
 Bankruptcy
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Subject-Matter Jurisdiction
 The authority of the court is set by statute or constitution creating
the court and is limited by:

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
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The subject matter of the lawsuit
The amount of money in controversy
Whether the case is a felony or misdemeanor
Whether the proceeding is a trial or appeal
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Original vs. Appellate
 The distinction between these types of jurisdiction
depends on whether the case is being heard for the
first time.
 Original jurisdiction – the power to hear a case for
the first time – usually given to trial courts
 Appellate jurisdiction – the power to review
decisions of lower courts – usually given to appellate
courts
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Federal Jurisdiction
 Article III, Section 2, of the U.S. Constitution, which establishes the
authority of the federal courts, states as follows:
 The judicial Power shall extend to all Cases, in Law and Equity, arising
under this Constitution, the Laws of the United States, and Treaties
made, or which shall be made, under their Authority.
 Bases for federal jurisdiction:
 Federal Question or statute
 Diversity of Citizenship
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Federal Questions
 Whenever a case is based, at least in part, on the U.S.
Constitution, a treaty, or a federal law, then a federal question
arises, and the case comes under the judicial power of the
federal courts. A lawsuit may be brought in federal court.
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Diversity
 Federal District courts can also exercise original jurisdiction over
cases involving diversity of citizenship, which arises when a
lawsuit involves citizens of different states, or a foreign country.
 Amount in controversy must exceed $75,000.
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Exclusive vs. Concurrent
 Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two different courts
have power to hear the same case.
 Exclusive jurisdiction exists when a case can be heard only in
a certain court.
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Venue
 Venue is the geographical location in which an action is tried and
from which the jury is selected.
 Venue reflects the policy that a court trying a suit should be in the
geographic neighborhood (usually the county) in which the
incident leading to the lawsuit occurred or in which the parties in
the lawsuit reside.
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Standing to Sue
 Standing to sue is the requirement that an individual must have
sufficient stake in a controversy before he or she can bring a
lawsuit.
 The party must have a legally protected and tangible interest at
stake in the litigation, such having suffered a harm or having been
threatened with harm.
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 In some cases, a person will have standing to sue on behalf of
another person – Parent on behalf of child
 Example – a parent has standing to sue on behalf of her child
if the child has been injured by a defective toy
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Judicial Controversy
 Real and substantial controversy, as opposed to hypothetical
or academic
 The child’s parents could only sue if the child had actually
been injured by the toy – They could not sue merely on the
ground that the toy was defective
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Judicial Process
 Litigation follows specific procedural rules
 When the document must be filed
 Time requirements for responding to documents
 Federal Rules of Civil Procedure
 California Code of Civil Procedure
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State Court System
 Each state has its own system of courts, and no two state
systems are the same
 Trial Courts
 Appellate Courts
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Trial Courts
 A trial court is presided over by a judge, who issues a
decision on the matter before the court.
 If it is a jury trial, the jury will decide the facts and the judge
will issue a judgment based on the jury’s conclusion
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Trial Courts – con’t
 During trial, the attorneys introduce evidence in support of
their client’s positions.
 Each attorney has an opportunity to cross-examine witnesses
of the opposing party and to rebut their evidence.
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Trial Courts – con’t
 State courts have either general or limited jurisdiction.
 General – criminal and civil matters
 Limited – family court, traffic court, or probate court
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Courts of Appeal
 Appellate courts review the decisions of lower courts
 Every state has at least one court of appeals, which may be an
intermediate appellate court or a state’s highest court.
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Courts of Appeal – con’t
 Intermediate appellate courts – these courts hear
appeals – not retry cases
 An appellate court panel of three or more judges reviews the
record of the case on appeal, including a trial transcript, to
determine if there is an error of law.
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Courts of Appeal – con’t
 Appellate courts focus on questions of law and procedure,
deferring to the trial court’s findings of fact.
 Only look at findings of fact when it is contrary to the
evidence presented or there is no evidence to support the
finding
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Highest Appellate Court
 Usually called the supreme court
 The decisions of each state’s highest courts are final
 Only when issues of federal law are involved can a decision
made by a state’s highest court be overruled by the United
States Supreme Court
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The Federal Court System
 Three-tiered model
 U.S. district courts (trial courts) and other courts of limited
jurisdiction
 U.S. courts of appeals (intermediate appellate courts)
 United States Supreme Court
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U.S. District Court
 The district court is a federal trial court of general
jurisdiction
 At least one district court in every state
 Currently 94 district courts (some states have several
districts)
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U.S. Court of Appeals
 Organized into thirteen circuits
 Twelve hear appeals from the federal district courts located in
their geographic circuits
 The thirteenth, called the Federal Circuit, has jurisdiction over
certain types of federal cases, such as patent cases.
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U.S. Court of Appeals – con’t
 A party who is unhappy with a federal district court’s decision may
appeal the decision to a federal circuit court of appeals, where a
panel of three or more judges will review the decision made by the
trial court for errors of law.
 The decisions are final, but appeal to the United States Court is
possible
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United States Supreme Court
 Composition – nine justices – nominated by President and
confirmed by the Senate
 Original jurisdiction in cases affecting ambassadors, ministers and
consuls and cases in which a state is a party
 All other cases serves as an appellate court
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Writ of Certiorari
 There in no absolute right to appeal to U.S. Supreme Court
 File “petition for certiorari”
 If petition granted, issues a writ
 Rule of four – at least 4 justices must grant the writ
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U.S. Supreme Cases
 Thousands of cases filed each year
 Usually hears fewer than 100 each year
 The U.S. Supreme Court will hear important constitutional
issues or issues on which the lower courts are divided
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Citation
 This indicates in which reporter the case can be found
 Gives the volume number and page number
 “384 U.S. 436” can be found in volume 384 of the U.S. Reports
on page 436.
 Citation Source: “The Bluebook”
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Decisions and Opinions
 The opinion is the court’s statement of its reasons for its
decision, the rules of law that apply and the judgment.
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 Questions?
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ADR Exercise
 Joe is selling his product to Sally, a wholesaler. Joe is in San
Diego, Sally in Minneapolis. Sales will be into Europe. They
want an ADR clause in their sales contract.
 Advise them—
 What type of ADR?
 Where held?
 What law applies?
 What language?
 What discovery rules?
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