Transcript
Chapter 16 Beginning a Court Action
1. Legal issues are questions of law to be decided by the court in a lawsuit.
2. The attorney writes a letter to the defendant in an attempt to settle the case out of court.
3. In choosing a court, the attorney must determine which court has jurisdiction over both the person who is being sued and the subject matter of the case.
4. A court obtains jurisdiction either by the federal or state constitution, or by a federal or state statute.
5. If a court should hear a particular case and make a decision without having jurisdiction, the decision would be meaningless.
6. For a court to have jurisdiction over an action in rem, the property must be located in the state (and usually the county) where the court sits.
7. If a defendant owns real property in one state and lives in another, the court where the real property is located has jurisdiction over the property only, not the person.
8. In question 7, if suit is brought against the defendant in the state where the property is located and the out-of-state defendant does not appear, the plaintiff's recovery will be limited to an amount up to the value of the property located in that state.
9. To bring a lawsuit against a person and hold him or her personally liable, a personal action, called an in personam action, must be brought by the plaintiff.
10. If the plaintiff's attorney begins an action in a court of improper venue, the defendant's attorney may have the case dismissed.
11. If the defendant's attorney does not raise the question of improper venue, the court may hear the case as long as it has jurisdiction.
12. Jurisdiction relates to the power of the court to hear a case, whereas venue relates to the geographic location where the action should be tried.
Understanding Legal Concepts
1. T 6. F, property, person
2. T 7. F, defendant
3. F, sometimes 8. T
4. F, property 9. F, in different places
5. T 10. T
Checking Terminology (Part A)
1. f 6. bb 11. o, ee 16. d 21. u 26. aa
2. q 7. t 12. s 17. j 22. n, dd 27. y
3. l 8. m 13. e 18. b 23. h 28. k
4. v 9. g 14. z 19. x 24. p, ff 29. cc
5. c 10. a 15. r 20. i 25. w
Checking Terminology (Part B)
1. n 6. c 11. o 16. y 21. f 26. cc
2. q 7. j 12. bb 17. h 22. z 27. p
3. x 8. t 13. i 18. m 23. l 28. w
4. aa 9. a 14. g 19. k 24. q, s
5. e 10. v 15. b 20. d 25. u
Using Legal Language
To settle a dispute over who owned the lot next to her, Susan tried to get Conrad to participate in a(n) alternate dispute resolution. She wanted to use mediation (also called conciliation)—an informal process in which a neutral third person listens to both sides and makes suggestions for reaching a solution. Conrad refused, however, causing Susan to bring a legal action against him. Susan was the plaintiff, and Conrad was the defendant in the litigation, which is also called a(n) civil action. This case was not one involving a defendant who owned land in one state and lived in another; therefore, it was not a(n) quasi in rem action. The venue for the trial was Salem because that is where the disputed land was located, and the court in that city had jurisdiction over the case. Because the case involved title to land, the trial had to be held in the county where the res was located, and because the suit was directed against property, it was a(n) in rem action not a(n) in personam action. The suit was a(n) local action rather than a(n) transitory action because it could only be brought in one place. In addition, because the Salem court was the only one that had the power to hear the case, it had exclusive jurisdiction rather than concurrent jurisdiction. Owing to the fact that the case was being tried for the first time, the court had original jurisdiction not appellate jurisdiction. Because this case was not criminal, no indictment by a grand jury occurred. Similarly, no arraignment occurred because no one was called before the court to answer an indictment. The proceedings were governed by the rules of civil procedure.
Puzzling Over What You Learned
1
P
L
A
I
N
T
I
F
F
2
E
F
3
4
5
6
7
8
O
R
I
G
I
N
A
L
J
U
R
I
S
D
I
C
T
I
O
N
S
N
O
R
R
E
N
O
C
S
A
U
R
9
10
N
M
N
B
A
I
L
G
P
A
E
L
R
E
S
L
M
A
R
I
N
11
12
S
A
C
T
I
O
N
T
O
R
A
C
N
D
O
O
N
E
C
T
D
N
R
C
T
I
I
J
A
Y
C
O
I
O
C
U
M
O
G
O
N
T
R
A
N
N
N
M
Y
A
C
V
I
E
C
T
E
Z
N
T
I
N
A
13
O
I
L
I
T
I
G
A
T
I
O
N
I
N
O
N
E
C
14
A
R
R
A
I
G
N
M
E
N
T
N
15
S
V
E
N
U
E
47625-4111625004117340-4325620004117340-411162500
Caveat: Allow squares for spaces between words and punctuation (apostrophes, hyphens, etc.) when filling in crossword.
Across
1. A person who brings a legal action against another.
The power to hear a case when it first comes to court.
Money or property left with the court to assure that a person will stand trial.
11. A lawsuit or court proceeding.
A suit at law.
Act of calling a prisoner before the court to answer an indictment.
Place where a trial is held.
Down
A personal obligation by a person to return to stand trial.
Right of a court to refuse to hear a case if a different court would serve justice better.
Lawsuit that is directed against property rather than against a person.
An action that can occur only in one place.
The property; the thing.
An action in which the court has jurisdiction over the person.
A lawsuit that may be brought in more than one place.
Jury that decides whether or not to charge someone with a crime.
Formal written charge of a crime made by a grand jury.
