1. Chapter 2 Judicial and Alternative Dispute Resolution
PowerPoint Slides to accompany THE LEGAL ENVIRONMENT OF BUSINESS AND ONLINE COMMERCE 4E, by Henry R. Cheeseman
Chapter 2
Judicial and Alternative
Dispute Resolution
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2. Two Major Court Systems
Federal court system
Court systems of the 50 states and the District of Columbia
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3. Forms of Dispute Resolution
Litigation—the process of bringing, maintaining, and defending a lawsuit
Alternative dispute resolution—non-judicial dispute resolution
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4. State Court Systems Limited-jurisdiction trial courts
Courts that hear matters of specialized or limited nature
Small claims courts are a good example of this
General-jurisdiction trial court
Courts that hear cases of a general nature that are not within the jurisdiction of limited-jurisdiction trial courts
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5. State Court Systems Intermediate appellate courts Highest state court
Courts that hear appeals from trial courts
Highest state court
The highest court in a state system
Hears appeals from intermediate state courts and certain trial courts
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6. Sample State Court System
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7. Special Federal Courts
US Tax Court
US Claims Court
US Court of International Trade
US Bankruptcy Court
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8. US District Courts
District courts are the federal court system’s trial courts of general jurisdiction
Presently, there are 96 district courts
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9. US Courts of Appeals
US Courts of Appeals are the federal court system’s intermediate appellate courts
There are 13 courts of appeals
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10. US Supreme Court Created by Article III of the US Constitution
Highest court in the US
Located in Washington, DC
Composed of nine justices who are nominated by the president and confirmed by the Senate
Types of decisions:
Unanimous
Majority
Plurality
Tie
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11. Federal Court System
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12. Jurisdiction of Federal and State Courts
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13. 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
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 allowed 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
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14. 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
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15. Pleadings
Complaint—the document the plaintiff files with the court and serves on the defendant to initiate a lawsuit
Summons—a court order directing the defendant to appear in court and answer
the complaint
Answer—the defendant’s written response to the plaintiff’s complaint that is filed with the court and served on
the plaintiff
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16. Statute of Limitations
Statute of limitations—a statute that establishes the period during which a plaintiff must bring a lawsuit against
a defendant
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17. Discovery
Discovery—a legal process during which both parties engage in various activities to discover facts of the case from the other party and from witnesses prior to trial
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18. Dismissals and Pretrial Judgments
Motion for judgment on the pleadings—motion that alleges that if all the facts presented in the pleadings are taken as true, the party making the motion would win the lawsuit when the proper law is applied to these asserted facts
Motion for summary judgment—motion that asserts that there are no factual disputes to be decided by the jury; if so, the judge can apply the proper law to the undisputed facts and decide the case without
a jury
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19. Phases of a Trial Jury selection Opening statement Plaintiff’s case
Defendant’s case
Rebuttal and rejoinder
Closing arguments
Jury instructions
Jury deliberations
Verdict
Entry of judgment
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20. The Appeal
In a civil case, either party can appeal the trial court’s decision once a final judgment
is entered
In a criminal case, only the defendant
can appeal
An appellate court will reverse a lower court decision if it finds an error of law in
the record
It will generally not reverse a finding of fact
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21. Types of Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR)
Arbitration
Conciliation
Fact finding
Judicial referee
Mediation
Minitrial
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22. Arbitration
Arbitration is a form of ADR in which parties choose an impartial third party to hear and decide the dispute
Many contracts require that disputes arising out of the contract be submitted to arbitration
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23. Mediation and Conciliation
A form of ADR in which the parties choose a neutral third party to act as the mediator of
the dispute
Conciliation
A form of mediation in which the parties choose an interested third party to act as the mediator
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24. Minitrial
A minitrial is a session, usually lasting a day or less, in which the lawyers for each side present their cases to representatives of each party who have authority to settle the dispute
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25. Fact-Finding
Fact-finding is a process where the parties hire a neutral person to investigate the dispute
The fact-finder reports his findings to the adversaries and may recommend a basis
for settlement
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26. Judicial Referee
If the parties agree, the court may appoint a judicial referee, often a retired judge, to conduct a private trial and render a judgment
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