Traditional Justice System

Jurisdiction:

Ability of a court to hear a case

Personal jurisdiction

Jurisdiction of a court over a particular person or entity (ex: corporation)

Generally based on Domicile (house)

Subject matter jurisdiction:

Jurisdiction of a court over a particular type of claim

• court must have both personal and subject matter jurisdiction in order for an action to proceed in it

(legal authority of a court to hear and decide a specific type of case.)

State courts are courts of ____

General jurisdiction

they may hear any type of claim unless the law says that type of claim can only be brough in federal coirt

Federal courts are courts of ___

Limited jurisdictions

they can only hear claims that arise under federal law

2 hooks for personal jurisdiction

Specific personal: has the defendant made specific contact with the forum state in some way and is that contact related to the claim the plaintiff has brought?

General personal: is the defendant domiciled in the forum state, or does it have continuous and systematic contact with the forum state?

Subject matter jurisdiction:

typically only only an issue for federal courts because they are courts of limited jurisdiction and may only hear claims that arise under federal law

2 hooks for federal subject matterjurisdiction:

federal questions jurisdiction: type of subject matter for federal courts, where the claim asserted actually arises under federal law (ex: federal trademark cases)

Diversity Jurisdiction: Special situation where a federal court has subject matter jurisdiction over cases that have

• Diversity over citizenship between all plaintiffs and defendants

• Amount of controversy is over $75,000

Cause of action:

group of operative facts giving rise to one or more bases for suing

Forum

Specific court where an action is filed

Plantiff

party that files and action

Defedant

party from whom judicial relief is sought

Third party defendant

some other party that the defendant feels is responsible for the remedy sought

inventor / 2rd party plantiff

someone who believes their rights may be affected by the litigation and who joins to demand relief from one of more parties

States of civil litigation

pleadings stage, discovery, trial, appeal

Discovery

formal exchange of information between parties, conducted as per the rules of civil procedure or standing court orders

• scope of discovery is broad, includes any info reasonably calculated to lead to the discovery of evidence

Privileges

shield fro discovery

ex: attorney privilege, doctor- patient privilege (hippa)

Forms of discovery

Requests for admissions, requests for production of documents, requests for inspection, interrogations, depositions

motion for summary judgement

seeks judgement as a matter of law on the ground that there is no genuine dispute as to any matter fact and the movant is thus entitles to judgment as a matter of law

( is a legal request asking a judge to end a case or a specific claim without holding a full trial)

Pretrial conference

confer with both parties and confirm that the matter is ready for trial, a judge will likely inquire about the possibility of settlement but cannot force parties to settle

Structure of trial:

jury selection (is requested), opening statement, plaintiffs case in chief, defendant case in chief, rebuttal cases, closing arguments, jury instruction, jury deliberates, verdict returned, possible appeal