Civil Dispute Resolution

Supreme Court = highest court in the U.S.

o Only hears cases where it grants certiorari
Certiorari is a written request asking the Supreme Court to
hear the case
o A person does not have a right to be heard by the Supreme Court
(the Supreme Court can deny the request to hear the case)

Appeals Court = middle court

o Appeals Courts do not review the facts of the case, instead they
focus on whether the trial court committed legal or prejudicial error
in deciding the case
o If the Appeals Court finds the trial court did commit error, they
can choose to:
(1) remand the case (send back to the trial court);
(2) reverse (change the decision);
(3) modify the trial courts decision; or
(4) affirm the decision of the lower court

Trial Court = lowest court

Types of Jurisdiction (whether or not a court has the authority/power to

hear a case)
o Subject Matter Jurisdiction: refers to authority of a particular
court to judge a specific type of case
Example: Bankruptcy Courts hear bankruptcy cases
o Exclusive Federal Jurisdiction: Congress stated Federal Courts
have exclusive jurisdiction over specific areas of law (see page 17 in
text) (ONLY Federal courts can hear these cases, not State courts)
Intellectual property
Admiralty cases
Immigration
Bankruptcy
Military
Antitrust
o Concurrent Jurisdiction: ways a case can be heard in federal
court (2 types)
(1) Federal question = Case issue arises under Federal Law
Federal courts do not have exclusive jurisdiction
according to the Constitution (can be brought in state
court)
(2) Diversity of Citizenship

Requirements:
o (1) Amount in controversy over $75k
o (2) Plaintiff and Defendant are from different
states
Foreign country brings action against US
citizens
Issue between citizens of a state and
citizens of a foreign country.
Corporations are citizens of both the State
of Incorporation and the principal place of
business

o Stare Decisis (list on page 19)

Courts cite stare decisis when an issue has already been
decided in another court
Trial court MUST follow decision made by a higher court

Personal Jurisdiction
o Must be OVER the Defendant (person who the case is being
brought against)
o Types of PJ
In personum:
(1) serve process on party in State in which court is
located;
(2) reasonable notification through long-arm statute
o Long-arm statute permits court to use
jurisdiction beyond borders if:
a tort was committed in the State;
the defendant owns property in the State
and that property is the subject matter of
the lawsuit;
entered into a contract in the State;
has transacted business in the State and
that business is the subject matter of the
lawsuit
(3) In rem-if the subject matter of the suit is property
in that state

Attachment = seizing a defendants property to pay for a judgement

unrelated to the property seized

Venue = related to which court in a given state will get the case.
o Often related to cases where defendant has too much negative
press (e.g.-Bill Cosby in Philadelphia)

o NOT the same thing as jurisdiction

Summary Judgement: when both parties agree on the facts, either

party can ask for summary judgement, which is simply application of the
law to those facts.

Alternative Dispute Resolution = ways to settle a controversy without

going t trial
o (1) arbitration (binding on the parties = parties are legally
obligated to follow decision)
o (2) mediation (non-binding on the parties = parties are not
legally obligated to follow decision)