Ch. 2 Civil Procedure and Alternative Dispute Resolutions

Ch. 2 Civil Procedure and Alternative Dispute Resolutions

1. U.S. Courts

   • State Court System
     • 1. inferior trial courts 2. general trial courts 3. appeals courts
   • Federal Court System
     • 1. federal district courts 2. specialized federal courts 3. federal circut courts of appeals  - fig. 14. US Supreme Court

2. Jurisdiction of Trial Courts

   • =Jurisdiction means the power or authority of the Court to hear and decide a given case.
   • Subject Matter Jursidiction
     • Federal court has limited jurisdiction. SMJ must be exclusive or concurrent
     • State
       • cases about private common law and state statues, even about federal law can go to STATE courts
     • Federal
       • Exclusive cases
         • cases that involve any type of federal government body e.g. military, NASA, IRS, copyright, antitrust
       • Concurrent Cases
         • = trying to choose between State or Federal court NEEDS either 1. diversity of citizenship - also needs min. of $75,000 in controversy 2. federal question jurisdiction- exists when case "arises under" federal law; e.g. constitution laws or treaties- no amount-in-controversy neededRemoval is made by defendant and typically wants to go  to federal court for unbias judgement
   • In Personam Jurisdiction (JP)
     • used for fairness over defendant defendant needs to be: - resident or present and served - doing business within state - must have min. contact  *Principle place of business nerve test
     • Long-arm statue
       • basis for state to have JP over defendant if there is minimum contact where claim arose
   • In rem Jurisdiction
     • case against a thing, typically land
   • Venue
     • court location that is the most convenient place e.g. if accident happen in norfolk, but defendant is resident of VB, then it would be filed in norfolk

3. Civil Procedure

   • Adversary System
     • where parties represent their positions before impartial party concludes the truth of the case
   • Rules of Procedure and Evidence
   • Pleadings
     • series of formal written statements from each party for dispute purpose: - to narrow issues of suit by elimination of irrelevant facts  - gives general notice
     • 1. Complaint
       • filed by plaintiff
       • 2. Asnwer
         • defendant files answer either with: - motion to dismiss (end case early) - answer with admission or denial of complaint - nothing => defendant is guilty by default Must answer within given time frame
     • Joining claims
       • parties can add new claims if it is relevant to case
     • joining parties
       • adding other parties that are relevent to case
     • class actions
       • group of people that can be created to fight a common claim purpose: relief and judicial economy requirement:: common injury and manageable class e.g. Wal-Mart vs. Dukes - problems were too broad so it was dismissed
     • Discovery
       • =each party provides other party certain relevant information about the case or info that could lead to relevant info. discoveries aren't supposed to damage a case therefore discoveries can commonly lead to objections begins after pleadings completed.  "Information may be subject to discovery even if it would not ultimately be admissible at trial under the legal rules of evidence." types:  - disposition - when one party's attorney interviews the other party or witness about the case - interrogatories - written questions from plaintiff to defendant or vice versa - requests for admissions - one party's demand to deny or admit, in writing, to certain statements within legal time period 
     • summary judgement
       • =device for trial by a judge, no jury purpose is to interpret a document requirement: - agreement of parties  - if no agreement, one can sue e.g. parker v. 20th century fox fox changes parker's movie but parker signed contract and didn't want to do new movie and won case because movies weren't equivelent
     • Pretrial Conference
       • step before trial judge meets informally with attorneys of both parties to agree on resolutions of certain issues to simplify case it also binds parties for the rest of the case
     • Trial
       • happens after discovery and pretrial motions
     • settlement
       • happens at anytime of case and must have court approval to make sure trial is fair

4. Alternative Dispute Resolution

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