Foundations Chapter 6 PowerPoint

1
The Courts and
Litigation



2

Jurisdiction



3

Chapter 6 Venue



4
Federal Court
Court Structures and Rule System


Navigation 5


State Court
Systems



6
Rules of
Procedure



7

Assignment



© 2018 UEducate

1
Federalism

Section 1 2



Branches of
Government
The Courts and Litigation

3

Separation of
Powers




















© 2018 UEducate

1| The Courts and Litigation:

Federalism













 American citizens


live under both

national and state


governments


 Under the concept


of federalism, the


national and state

authorities have


both distinct and

shared powers








© 2018 UEducate

1| The Courts and Litigation:

Branches of Government


























▪ Legislative

▪ Executive


▪ Judicial





















© 2018 UEducate

1| The Courts and Litigation:

Separation of Powers















▪ Separation of powers


leads to checks and


balances

▪ Federalism is an element


of checks and balances

▪ Separation of powers


keeps any one branch


from becoming more

powerful than the others










© 2018 UEducate

1
Subject Matter

Jurisdiction



2
Section 2 Personal

Jurisdiction



3
Jurisdiction In Rem


Jurisdiction



4

Quasi In Rem
Jurisdiction














© 2018 UEducate

2| Jurisdiction:

Subject Matter Jurisdiction
















▪ Court’s authority over

subject and people



▪ General jurisdiction vs.

limited jurisdiction



▪ Subject matter jurisdiction

cannot be waived, and


can be raised by either

party or the judge












© 2018 UEducate

2| Jurisdiction:

Personal Jurisdiction














▪ Court’s authority over

the parties to a lawsuit


▪ Plaintiff submits to


jurisdiction by filing the


lawsuit


▪ Jurisdiction over

defendant depends


upon where he resides


and other factors










© 2018 UEducate

2| Jurisdiction:

In Rem Jurisdiction











 The dispute between the


parties is over title to

property



 Where the property is located

creates jurisdiction



 Tangible property creates in

rem jurisdiction (ex: real


estate, personal property)


 Intangible property also


creates in rem jurisdiction

(ex: bank accounts, stocks)






© 2018 UEducate

2| Jurisdiction:

Quasi in Rem Jurisdiction












 Ownership of property

within the state is basis


of jurisdiction


 Decision on quasi in rem


jurisdiction binds the


parties themselves


 Property can be either


real estate or personal


 Property can either be


tangible or intangible








© 2018 UEducate

1
Federal Court
Venue
Section 3


2
State Court

Venue Venue


3

Changing Venue




















© 2018 UEducate

3| Venue:

Federal Court Venue












 Venue refers to the

proper location for a


matter to be litigated


 Proper venue is usually


where defendant resides


or where action at heart

of litigation took place



 In federal court, venue

is usually a district or


division.









© 2018 UEducate

3| Venue:

State Court Venue

















 In state court, venue


usually refers to a

specific county



 Criminal cases are

held where crime took


place


 Venue is different from


jurisdiction











© 2018 UEducate

3| Venue:

Changing Venue














 Changing venue

means moving a case


to a new location


 Common in high-profile


cases


 Can also occur when a


party believes venue is

improper or


inconvenient











© 2018 UEducate

1

U.S. Supreme
Court



2
U.S. Courts of

Appeals
Section 4

3

U.S. District
Courts
Federal Court System


4

Bankruptcy
Courts



5
Miscellaneous
Federal Courts










© 2018 UEducate

4| Federal Court System

U.S. Supreme Court

















 Supreme Court is the


highest court in the land


 9 Justices (Chief + 8


Associates)


 Article III Judges


(appointed for life)


















© 2018 UEducate

4| Federal Court System

U.S. Courts of Appeals



















▪ Courts of Appeals are

directly below the


Supreme Court


▪ The 13 Courts of


Appeals are

established by


geography














© 2018 UEducate

4| Federal Court System

U.S. District Courts



















▪ 94 district-level trial


courts


▪ Fall under the 13


U.S. District Courts


▪ Where federal suits

begin
















© 2018 UEducate

Section 5

1

Florida State
Courts
State Court Systems




























© 2018 UEducate

3| Venue:


State Court Venue



























 Currently, there are 20

judicial circuits in Florida
























© 2018 UEducate

1
Federal Rules of

Procedure
Section 6

2

State Rules of
Procedure
Rules of Procedure


3

Local Rules of
Procedure



















© 2018 UEducate

6| Rules of Procedure:


Federal Rules of Procedure






Federal Rules of Procedure




Federal Rules of Civil Procedure

https://www.law.cornell.edu/rules/frcp




Federal Rules of Appellate Procedure

https://www.law.cornell.edu/rules/frap




Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure

https://www.law.cornell.edu/rules/frcrmp




Supreme Court Rules

https://www.law.cornell.edu/rules/supct




Federal Rules of Bankruptcy Procedure

https://www.law.cornell.edu/rules/frbp



© 2018 UEducate

6| Rules of Procedure:


Navigating the Federal Rules of Civil


Procedure







 To find specific rules, you can use a
“find” function if searching online (if you

know exactly what text you are seeking)

or follow the TOC

 The Table of Contents (TOC) for the

FRCP are organized in a way which
simplifies navigation


 Depending upon your area of interest,
you can scroll the TOC and then flip to

the relevant rules

 See the following example for using the

TOC for the FRCP. Begin with locating

the FRCP, either in hard copy or online.
Here, we used a copy from

http://www.uscourts.gov/sites/default/file

s/rules-of-civil-procedure.pdf



© 2018 UEducate

6| Rules of Procedure:


Navigating the Federal Rules of


Procedure





 You are starting a federal case and you
filed a summons with an incorrect
header. You need to know: What a
federal summons must contain; and
Can you amend a federal summons.
 Start with the TOC – see pic 1. As you
can see, there is a section on
Commencing an Action, and under that
section is “Summons” associated with
Rule 4 – see pic 2.
 If you turn to Rule 4, you will see that
the required components of a summons
are listed, answering question 1.
 If you keep reading, you’ll see question
2 answered right after section 1 – see
pic 3.
 Therefore, FRCP Rule 4(a)(1) answered
your first question, and FRCP Rule
4(a)(2) answered your second.












© 2018 UEducate

6| Rules of Procedure:


State and Local Rules of Procedure









State Rules of Procedure




Florida Rules of Procedure (organized by area of law)

http://www.floridabar.org/tfb/TFBLegalRes.nsf/







Local Rules of Procedure




http://www.jud11.flcourts.org/General-Information/Local-

Rules (Miami-Dade)




http://www.17th.flcourts.org/index.php/rules-and-
policies/local-rules (Broward)




http://15thcircuit.co.palm-beach.fl.us/series1 (Palm
Beach)


© 2018 UEducate

6| Rules of Procedure:

Navigating the Florida Rules of Civil



Procedure






 The Florida Rules of Civil Procedure, like the

FRCP, can be navigated online via a search tool

or by using the TOC


 For this example, you begin by going to

floridacivpro.com


 From the homepage, you see both a list of the

rules (the TOC) and a list of most-frequently


viewed rules on the left


 You can click your rule to be taken to it directly


















© 2018 UEducate

6| Rules of Procedure:

Navigating the Florida Rules of Civil



Procedure





 Your case is in the discovery phase. Your attorney

wants to know how many days you have to respond
to a Request for Admission

 Even if you are not familiar with RFAs, you can see
from image 1 that the questions begin to focus on
discovery around rule 1.280

 Looking closely at this section, you see a rule
regarding Requests for Admission, Rule 1.370

 When you click on this rule, you are taken to image
2

 If you read the rule, you find your answer is 30
days unless otherwise stated – see image 3




















© 2018 UEducate

6| Rules of Procedure:


Navigating the Florida Rules of Appellate


Procedure





 Appellate court rules must be followed for practice before FL

appellate courts

 FL rules of appellate procedure are found at
https://www.floridabar.org/wp-

content/uploads/2017/04/appellate.pdf
 The first page contains the Table of Contents


 From this page, you can look for subjects which may
address questions you may need to answer

 The version from this link is a .pdf; therefore, once you have
found a relevant section, you must scroll down to the correct

page number

 For this example, suppose that you are handling a case on
appeal, and you are following the rules, but the opposing

party is not. Your attorney asks you to look to the rules to
see what actions you can take.










© 2018 UEducate

6| Rules of Procedure:

Navigating the Florida Rules of Appellate



Procedure







 Scrolling through the rules,

you see sections on Costs

and Fees and Sanctions –

see image 1


 Turning to the rules, you

see that motions for fees

are permitted under

9.40(b) – see image 2


 Also, you see under

9.41(b) that you can file a

motion for sanctions, and

that the rest of the rule

spells out how to do so –

see image 3




© 2018 UEducate

References









Federal Rules of Procedure

Federal Rules of Civil Procedure

https://www.law.cornell.edu/rules/frcp





Federal Rules of Appellate Procedure

https://www.law.cornell.edu/rules/frap




Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure


https://www.law.cornell.edu/rules/frcrmp




Supreme Court Rules

https://www.law.cornell.edu/rules/supct





Federal Rules of Bankruptcy Procedure

https://www.law.cornell.edu/rules/frbp


© 2018 UEducate

References (Cont’d.)












State Rules of Procedure




Florida Rules of Procedure (organized by area of law)

http://www.floridabar.org/tfb/TFBLegalRes.nsf/





Local Rules of Procedure




http://www.jud11.flcourts.org/General-Information/Local-

Rules (Miami-Dade)





http://www.17th.flcourts.org/index.php/rules-and-
policies/local-rules (Broward)





http://15thcircuit.co.palm-beach.fl.us/series1 (Palm Beach)



© 2018 UEducate

Section 7



Foundations I
Assignment 3
Assignment




























© 2018 UEducate

7| Assignment:


Foundations I Assignment 3








Legal Analysis – IRAC (template)



Review the fact pattern regarding Peter Pierce Danny Pacheco.



You have been asked to prepare an Internal Memorandum, using Florida Statutes,
including the Florida Evidence Code, addressing the testimony that was admitted, to

evaluate the basis for an appeal.



The Florida Statutes can be searched here: http://www.leg.state.fl.us/statutes/index.cfm


The Florida Evidence Code can be searched here:

http://www.leg.state.fl.us/Statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&URL=0000009

9/0090/0090.html



Your research should focus on hearsay and privilege.


Be sure to review the Rubric as part of your assignment preparation. The Rubric is

posted in the Announcements, and is viewable in the assignment.




© 2018 UEducate