BSLW6604 Lecture Notes - Lecture 1: Appellate Jurisdiction, Summary Judgment, Precedent
8 Jun 2018
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The Court & The Legal System
1. 4 Types of Law
a. Constitutional Law
b. Administrative Law: Administrations & Government Entities
c. Statute Law: Written law, developed by legislature/government
d. Common Law
2. The Court & The Legal System
a. Common Law: American Legal System
i. Precedent and cases dictate future decisions
ii. Built up over decades of cases
iii. Predictability and stability in law
iv. Precedents vs. Statute Law
1. Binding authority vs. persuasive authority
v. Stare decisis: let the decision stand
b. 3 Functions of court system
i. Administering laws
ii. Resolving disputes
iii. Interpreting legislative intent
c. Civil law vs. criminal law
i. Criminal Law: Government coming after you
ii. Civil Law: Other person comes after you for monetary damages
3. Jurisdiction
a. Definition
i. The practical authority granted to a formally constituted body or to a person to
deal with and make pronouncements on legal matter and, by implication, to
administer justice within a defined area of responsibility
b. Requirements
i. Subject matter jurisdiction (ex. Tax court vs. Family court)
1. Competency of a court to hear and determine a particular category of
cases
ii. Personal jurisdiction (ex. Located in Mass, but tried in Hawaii)
1. Refers to the court’s power over the parties involved in a particular suit
iii. Original jurisdiction
1. The ability to hear a matter in the first instance
iv. Appellate jurisdiction
1. The power vested in a superior court to correct legal errors of an inferior
court and to revise their judgment
4. State v. Federal Court
a. Federal Court
i. All criminal cases involving a federal law
ii. Civil cases that fall into the following categories
1. Federal Questions
2. Diversity of Citizenship, amount of controversy
b. State Court: Everything else
c. Trial Court: Court of original jurisdiction where all issues are held
d. Appeals Court
i. Court of review where issues decided at trial are reviewed for error
ii. No new evidence or issues may be presented
5. Federal Court System
a. Supreme Court
i. Limited original jurisdiction over some cases
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