Law Chapter 5-6

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

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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

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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