INTRODUCTION & OVERVIEW OF COURT SYSTEM
SELECT-A-COURT TOPICS
The following are the “loop-holes” that must be satisfied in order for a civil case to be heard:
I. Subject Matter Jurisdiction (SMJ)
a. Removal
II. Personal Jurisdiction (PJ)
a. Service of Process (Notice)
III. Venue/Transfer/Forum Non Conveniens)
Additional topics
IV. Pleadings
a. Defaults & Dismissal
V. Simple Joinder
I. Court Systems
Federal System
State System
1. Supreme Court of the United States
1. <State> Supreme Court
2. U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals
2. Intermediate Court of Appeals
3. U.S. District Court for the ____ District of <State>
3. Trial Court
· One right of appeal (from 3 to 2)
· SCOTUS is a writ of certiorari
· 13 Circuits (Federal Circuit; D.C. Circuit & 11 geographical regions)
· One right of appeal (from 3 to 2)
· State SC is leave to appeal
Supreme Court of the United States Jurisdiction
· Original Jurisdiction in matters involving foreign ambassadors and those in which a State is a party
· Appellate Jurisdiction is subject to regulation of Congress and includes reviewing decision of the lower federal courts.
· The other way to get to SCOTUS is coming from the State’s highest court and there MUST be a federal issue.
· Article III gives SCOTUS’s power
· Advantages of Federal System:
o Federal Courts have smaller case loads so cases move faster.
o Bias by judges (i.e. federal – less ties to political party; state – has to be reappointed/elected)
o Bias by courts (i.e. federal – jury 6 and comes from entire district; state – jury is 12 people from that community )
· original SMJ (where a case may start) vs. appellate SMJ (court can only review the case)
· exclusive SMJ (reserved specifically for federal district court – no other court can hear the case – the statute gives it) vs. concurrent SMJ (federal & state courts share jurisdiction)
1. SUBJECT MATTER JURISDICTION
“Federal courts are courts of limited subject matter jurisdiction because of Article III of U.S. Constitution.”
SUBJECT MATTER JURISDICTION: courts power over the subject matter of the law suit.
· π must include a short/plain statement of the federal courts authority (i.e. must be pleaded – alleged in the complaint) to decide the federal issue (this helps π decide where the case will be heard).
· SMJ can be raised at anytime, by anyone in any federal court even for the 1st time.
· 12(B) Defense – can be raised by ∆ at anytime which states federal court lacks SMJ.
· Can also be raised in a pre-answer motion in which ∆ does not have to respond to the allegations raised in the complaint.
· Because federal courts are limited, SMJ cannot be waived or expanded.
· SMJ can be exclusive or concurrent
· Sources of SMJ: SMJ is limited by the outer bounds of Article III of the Constitution and by federal statutes.
I. FEDERAL QUESTION SMJ (28 USC §1331): The district courts shall have original jurisdiction of all civil actions “arising under” the constitution, laws, or treaties of the United States. (This
ncorporated and at its principal place of business (nerve center).
iii. Partnerships: citizenship of each named partner must be considered.
iv. Representatives: Actual citizenship of representative is to be ignored and the rep. is deemed to have the same citizenship as the deceased.
b. Amount in Controversy: The amount in controversy must be more than $75,000
i. It is measured by the complaint which requires good faith.
ii. Legal Certainty Rule: To challenge jx. amount it must appear to a “legal certainty” that either:
1. From the face of the pleading that the π cannot recover the amount claimed; OR
2. From the proofs, the court is convinced the π never was entitled to recover the amount.
iii. Actual Recovery is irrelevant as long as original claim is made in good faith.
c. Aggregation of Claims: is the ability to add amount of claims together to meet jurisdictional amount required.
i. One π with two or more claims against one ∆ can add up (aggregate) the claims to satisfy the jurisdictional amount (claims can be unrelated).
ii. Multiple πs against one ∆ may not aggregate claims to meet jurisdictional amount requirement.
d. Domestic Relationship Exception: Divorce, alimony, property settlements do not fall under §1332.
e. Arguing 12(B)1 defense: lack of subject matter jurisdiction
i. A facial attack on the legal sufficiency of the complaint (assumes allegations are true); OR
A factual attack – attacking the facts as they are alleged (court will look to see if the facts are true).
