Studied by 4 people
Who are the parties to a Civil Trial?
Plaintiff and Defendant
Who are the parties to a Criminal Trial?
Prosecutor and Defendant
What are other differences between Civil and Criminal Trials?
Civil: either the plaintiff or the defendant may request a jury trial
Criminal: the defendant decides whether there will be a jury
Civil: mostly result in out-of-court settlements or trials by a judge
Criminal: most cases are never brought to trial
What is the best way to find a lawyer?
by recommendation of a person who was in a similar legal situation as you
What is the difference between an adversarial and inquisitional system of justice?
Adversarial: contest between opposing sides or adversaries; matters are left to the competing parties with the decision being made by a judge/jury based on evidence
Inquisitional: the judge is active in questioning witnesses and controlling the court process, including the gathering and presenting of evidence; judges are allowed to take the lead role in trying to uncover the truth
Flat Fee
The lawyer agrees to do the job for a specific price regardless of time and effort
Hourly Fee
paid by the hour
Contingency Fee
The client pays nothing unless he wins; the attorney gets a percentage of the damages or settlement
Retainer Fee
a lawyer may require a down payment
What is the difference between a question of fact and a question of law?
Fact: jury decides
Law: judge decides
How are members of a jury selected?
a pool of potential jurors are selected
12 are put into a courtroom and asked questions "voir dire” (Lawyers can try to remove a potential juror)
after going through the whole pool 12 jurors are selected with a few alternates
Majority Opinion
states the decision of the court
Concurring Opinion
judges who agree with the majority’s outcome but for reasons different from those used to support the majority opinion
Dissenting Opinion
states the reasons for the disagreement
Note 
Flashcard (44)