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Overview of American Law: Sources, Court System, and Categories

This comprehensive guide explores the foundational elements of American law, including its primary sources: constitutions, statutes, common law, and administrative law. It highlights the dual court system in the U.S., detailing the process from trial courts to supreme courts, and discusses the significance of precedents and binding authorities. Different categories of law are examined, including substantive vs. procedural law and their implications for public vs. private matters. The guide also outlines the stages of litigation, providing essential insights into legal reasoning and case law interpretation.

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Overview of American Law: Sources, Court System, and Categories

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Presentation Transcript

  1. Law 11 Introduction

  2. Sources of American Law • Constitutions – federal plus every state; everyone in U.S. subject to federal constitution plus one state constitution at all times; creates government powers/structure and guarantees individual rights. • Statutes – federal, state and local; also called ordinances, regulations and codes. • Common or case law – decisions by judges, who interpret constitutions, statutes and/or prior cases (“precedent”) to make decision of current dispute; stare decisis ordinarily requires judges to follow past decisions, which creates predictability and stability in legal and business matters. • Administrative law – decisions and rules of federal, state and local administrative entities (e.g., IRS, DMV); important since many laws require a hearing by an administrative agency before being able to file a case in court (note that courts often give great deference to administrative agency’s decision).

  3. The American Court System • “Dual” court system in the United States – federal court system plus each state has its own court system. • Cases generally filed/commenced in trial courts – District Court in the federal court system; Superior Court in California. • Appeal by right from trial courts to intermediate appellate courts – Court of Appeals (federal – 13 circuits); Court of Appeal (California – 6 districts). • Appeal from intermediate appellate courts to supreme courts per discretion – United States Supreme Court and California Supreme Court. • Appeal from California Supreme Court to United States Supreme Court per only discretion and if case involves federal question.

  4. Chart re: the American Court System

  5. Boundaries of U.S. Courts of Appeal

  6. Case Precedents and Case Reporters • Precedents are judicial decisions that give rise to legal principles that can be applied in future cases based upon similar facts. • Precedents and other forms of law, such as statutes, constitutions, and regulations are referred to as binding authorities and must be followed. • Today, cases are published or ‘reported’ in books called reporters

  7. Categories of Law • Substantive and procedural – substantive law defines legal rights/limitations; procedural law provides the methods for seeking or defending legal rights/limitations. • Public and private – public law involves matters of public interest; private law pertains to the parties to a dispute only. • Civil and criminal – civil law relates to duties between individuals, businesses and/or government; criminal law relates to wrongs against society and is investigated, prosecuted and administered by government. • Law and equity – actions at law involve money; actions in equity involve non-monetary relief (e.g., injunction, specific performance); jury trial available in actions at law only.

  8. Stare Decisis and Legal Reasoning • Method used by judges to reach a decision. • Many courts and attorneys frame decisions and briefs using the IRAC format: Issue, Rule, Application (Analysis) and Conclusion. • What are the key facts and issues? • What rules or laws apply? • How do the rules of law apply to these facts?

  9. How to Read & Understand Case Law • Legal cases are identified by a “legal citation” (or a “cite”) as the example below: D.A.B.E., Inc. v. City of Toledo, 393 F.3d 692 (6th Cir. 2005). Title: First Party is Plaintiff, second party is Defendant. The parties are either italicized or underlined.

  10. How to Read & Understand Case Law • Legal cases are identified by a “legal citation” (or a “cite”) as the example below: D.A.B.E., Inc. v. City of Toledo,393 F.3d 692 (6th Cir. 2005). Citation: Case is found in Federal Supplement 3rd, Volume 393, page 692.

  11. How to Read & Understand Case Law • Legal cases are identified by a “legal citation” (or a “cite”) as the example below: D.A.B.E., Inc. v. City of Toledo, 393 F.3d 692 (6th Cir. 2005). Case was decided by the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals, 2005.

  12. Stages of Litigation • Informal Negotiations. • Pleadings. • Service of Process. • Defendant’s Response. • Discovery. • Pre-Trial. • Trial. • Post-Trial.

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