Prentice Hall © PowerPoint Slides to accompany THE LEGAL ENVIRONMENT OF BUSINESS AND ONLINE COMMERCE 5E, by Henry R. Cheeseman Chapter 2 Court Systems and Jurisdiction

Prentice Hall © Two Major Court Systems Federal court system Court systems of the 50 states and the District of Columbia

Prentice Hall © State Court Systems Limited-jurisdiction trial courts Courts that hear matters of specialized or limited nature General-jurisdiction trial courts Courts that hear cases of a general nature that are not within the jurisdiction of limited-jurisdiction trial courts

Prentice Hall © State Court Systems Intermediate appellate courts Courts that hear appeals from trial courts Highest state court Court that hears appeals from intermediate state courts and certain trial courts

Prentice Hall © Sample State Court System

Prentice Hall © Special Federal Courts U.S. Tax Court U.S. Claims Court U.S. Court of International Trade U.S. Bankruptcy Court

Prentice Hall © US District Courts District courts are the federal court system’s trial courts of general jurisdiction. Presently, there are 96 district courts.

Prentice Hall © US Courts of Appeals US Courts of Appeals are the federal court system’s intermediate appellate courts. There are 13 courts of appeals.

Prentice Hall © US Supreme Court Created by Article III of the US Constitution Highest court in the U.S. Located in Washington, D.C. Composed of nine justices who are nominated by the President and confirmed by the Senate

Prentice Hall © Types of decisions Unanimous Majority Plurality Tie

Prentice Hall © Federal Court System

Prentice Hall © Jurisdiction of Federal and State Courts

Prentice Hall © Jurisdiction of Courts Standing to sue—the plaintiff must have some stake in the outcome of the lawsuit Jurisdiction—the authority of a court to hear a case

Prentice Hall © Types of Jurisdiction In personam jurisdiction—jurisdiction over the parties to a lawsuit In rem jurisdiction—jurisdiction to hear a case because of jurisdiction over the property involved in the lawsuit Quasi in rem jurisdiction—jurisdiction which allows a plaintiff who obtains a judgment in one state to try to collect the judgment by attaching property of the defendant located in another state

Prentice Hall © Long-Arm Statutes Long-arm statute—a statute that extends a state’s jurisdiction to nonresidents who were not served a summons within the state Forum-selection clause—contract provision that designates a certain court to hear any dispute concerning nonperformance of the contract

Prentice Hall © Venue Venue requires lawsuits to be heard by the court with jurisdiction closest to the location where incident occurred or parties reside. Change of venue may be requested in order to find impartial jury.