Chapter 2: The Court System
Chapter 2: The Court System
• Plaintiff
• Defendant
• Burden of Proof – Civil, Criminal
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Federal – 3 Branches
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3 Branches
• Legislative branch: Created by Article I of the Constitution: • Executive branch: Created under
Article II of the Constitution• Judiciary: Created by Article III of
the Constitution
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State and Federal Courts
TN SupremeCourt
TN Court ofAppeals
Chancery Court Circuit Court
General Sessions
Juvenile Court
TN Courts
U.S. SupremeCourt
6th Circuit Courts ofAppeals
U.S. DistrictCourt
Federal Courts
TENNESEE COURT SYSTEM• 1. Trial Courts – jurisdictions in Tennessee are divided
by numbers. • 2. Tennessee Court of Appeals• 3. Tennessee Supreme Court
• General Sessions and Trial Judges are elected for 8 year terms.
• Appellate judges are appointed and then subject to a retention vote. This is called the “Tennessee Plan.”
The Beginning Courts
• Every Lawsuit begins in the trial court
• CANNOT start a lawsuit in the appellate court.
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Trial Court – Rutherford County
• Chancery –• Circuit – • General Sessions Civil –• General Session Criminal –• Juvenile –• Child Support –
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The Court of Appeals
• Ct of Appeals, Appellate courts only REVIEW judge’s decision and make sure complies with law.
• In a criminal case only the Defendant/Accused may appeal
Legal Environment of Business 9
TN Supreme Court
• Cornelia A. Clark Middle Division • Janice M. Holder Western Division • William C. Koch Middle Division • Sharon G. Lee Eastern Division • Gary R. Wade Eastern Division•
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Federal Court
• Article III Creates the Federal Courts
• Judges -
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The Federal Court System
• I. TRIAL - U.S. District Courts are the ‘Trial’ courts of the federal court system.
• Eastern, Middle, Western
• II. APPEALS – TN in the 6th Circuit
• III. United States Supreme Court.
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The Federal Court of Appeals
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US Supreme Court – judges
• All federal justices, including those on the Supreme Court, serve for life
• US. SUPREME CT – How many judges – Hear a case
• 3 women
• AB GKK RSST
Legal Environment of Business 14
•Jurisdiction
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•1. what state do you sue•2. do you sue in federal or
state court•3. what particular federal
or state court do you sue
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Basic Judicial Requirements
Jurisdiction: is the power of a court to hear a dispute and render a verdict that is legally binding on the parties to the dispute.
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• • Personal. A court must have
jurisdiction over the Defendant – the party against whom the lawsuit is brought.
• OR• • In Rem. Jurisdiction over the property
involved in the lawsuit.
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JURISDICTION
Jurisdiction Over Persons
Persons: power of a court to compel the Defendant (including corporations) to appear in a particular court for litigation
Minimum Contacts -
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What is Minimum Contacts
Defendant must have minimum contacts:
Examples:
1. Committing a tort (injury/civil wrong) within the state – car accident
2. Advertising/selling/putting a product into the stream of commerce in that state
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Jurisdiction Over Businesses
Does the company do business or advertise within the state?
Does company deliver its products into the stream of commerce with the expectation that they will be purchased by consumers in the forum State.
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Reasoning:
•When a business purposefully avails it self of the privilege of conducti ng activities in a State, it is not unreason able to subject it to a lawsuit there.
•SOLELY FOCUS DEFENDANT
Internet
Active v. passive website:
“Sliding Scale” Standard.• Three Different Types of Contacts: • (1) substantial business over the internet, • (2) some interactivity through a website, • (3) passive advertising.
Example-Min Contact• I own a computer store in TN and I buy parts from
Company B in California. Company B sells me fraudulent parts. Who is the Plaintiff and who is the Defendant
Where does Plaintiff sue – TN or CA
Does the Defendant have min contacts
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Why do you care
• Where and how you conduct business could subject you to lawsuit in other states
• Costs:
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Pg. 31 SGI v. IPC
• CASE 2.2 GUCCI AMERICA, INC. V. WANG HUOQING (2011). U.S. District court exercised jurisdiction over Chinese defendant who advertised and sold goods over the internet.
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Pg. 34 Case in Point• LA buyer bought RV from seller in TX on Ebay
after viewing photo. • PL - Def- • PL picked up RV in TX but while in LA the RV
broke down - Pl sued in LA• LA- Because Def had used eBay to market and
sell the RV to a LA buyer and had regularly used eBay to sell cars to remote parties in the past.
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Mastondrea v. Occidental Hotels Management
• Libgo Travel advertises in Newark, NJ paper for vacation packages at Royal Hotel in Mexico.• Pl booked package. Hurt at hotel
• What are options where sue• Where does Pl want to sue? Why?– What is the standard for PL to sue there?
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• Patty lives in Florida and sells coins in Florida, parts of Michigan, New York, and Washington, D.C. While on a business trip in New York, Patty is run over by Drew, a citizen of New York. Patty brings suit against Drew in Florida for his injuries.
• Does the Florida court have jurisdiction over Drew?
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Jurisdiction over Property
• In Rem jurisdiction is the power to decide issues
relating to property.
• A court generally has in rem jurisdiction over any property situated within its geographical borders
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1. Is it federal or state court
• 1. Does it involve federal law• 2. Are the parties from different
states• 3. How much are you suing for
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Jurisdiction of Federal Courts• 1. Does case involve purely federal law.
• 2. Diversity Jurisdiction - – The parties are not from the same state, and– interstate commerce– minimum contacts. – (The amount in controversy is greater than
$75,000.)
• Sometimes both Federal and State.
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1. Purely Federal Law – Bankruptcy – Congress determined that bankruptcies are best addressed in a standardized manner across US so federal courts.
2. Diversity of Citizenship. Parties are not from same state
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Why - Diversity Jurisdiction
• The US Constitution gives federal courts the power to hear diversity cases. The framers of the Constitution were concerned that when a case is filed in one state, and it involves parties from that state and another state, the state court might be biased toward the party from that state
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Jurisdiction Over Persons
• Civil - Parties are from diff states – Federal• Criminal – does act cross state lines• SO WHICH STATE?
• MC - Placing goods into stream of commerce with intent to be sold – interstate commerce – cross state lines
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• Michael Vick
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Venue
location for the lawsuit/trial
Generally, proper venue is whether the injury occurred.
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Venue – In state- what county
• What county the lawsuit should be brought.
• Jane lives in Wilson County and has car wreck in Rutherford County
• Jane lives in Wilson County and has work related injury Rutherford County.
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Venue – in federal – what section
•What district - Middle or Eastern or Western US District Court.
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Standing to Sue
• Must have:• Standing is sufficient party must have suffered
a legal harm
• Ex:
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Damage
• Must have damages:
Ex:
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The Lawsuit – a Complaint
Plaintiff prepared a lawsuit called a complaintMust prove Service of process:
What is that?How long to respond?
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LAWSUIT
ComplaintIf Individual - Must serve Defendant with lawsuit – personally or leave at home/office
If Business – when you register with state to do business, have to list who gets the lawsuit. Called registered agent– they have companies that all they do is accept lawsuit.
Legal Environment of Business 44
Criminal
• In a Criminal Case–The State is the Plaintiff
The accused is the Defendant
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TRIAL
• Bench Trial – what is that
• Jury -
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The Trial
• Jury Trial General process– Voir Dire– Opening Statements– PL Direct/Cross Examination– Def Direct/Cross Examination– Closing Statements– Jury instructions– Jury Deliberations
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Burden of Proof
•Jury:
•Criminal
•Civil48
Appeals
• If you do not believe judge or jury made right decision, you can appeal it.
• Appeals court JUST reviews – not a new trial
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Whether to sue:
• Assuming you do win your lawsuit, you need to ask yourself whether or not you will be able to collect any form of judgment.
• Keep in mind that it will do you little to no good to win a lawsuit against someone that cannot pay the judgment or does not have insurance.
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Enforcing a Judgment
• Courts only have the power to tell you that you are legally entitled to a monetary judgment; they cannot help you collect it
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• After waiting 17 years for O.J. Simpson to pay a $9 million wrongful death judgment, Ronald Goldman's mother is selling her right to the cash online.
• Sharon Rufo listed the judgment Tuesday on JudgmentMarketplace.com with a $1 million starting price. Bidding continues for 30 days.
• The judgment is now worth $24.7 million after interest. The winning bidder takes on the risk of collecting from the financially strapped former football star.
