U.S. Court System and Legal Procedures Part 1

The 94 Federal District Courts are organized into ______ regional circuits.
A: 11
B: 25
C: 50
D: 12

If the top tier is number one in this scenario. put the following court systems in order.

State Supreme Court
Municipal Courts
Circuit or District Courts
Court of Appeals

Fill in the blank:
The venue of a case is _________ the case is ________.

Fill in the blank:
The three types of courts ________ courts, which have been around the longest; ________ courts, which includes the United States Tax Court, and the _______ Court, which is the third branch of the federal government and includes the Circuit Courts of Appeal.

True or False?
State courts are independent of federal courts.

Which part of the notice shows the venue?
[Check CER Court - Courts Quiz, Question 6]

Which term applies to the following definition?
Types of cases or issues a court is authorized to hear.
For example, bankruptcy court can only hear bankruptcy cases.

A: Jurisdiction - subject matter
B: Jurisdiction - geographic
C: Jurisdiction - limited
D: Jurisdiction - general

AAERT standards are based on....

A: federal rules.
B: live free and be free.
C: independent thoughts.
D: state rules.

True or False?
When the U.S. Supreme Court rules on a matter, all other courts now have to follow that.

Constitutionality is decided by which court?

A: Appeals
B: Supreme
C: District
D: State

What does the venue (jurisdiction) of the case tell the reporter?
(Example of Venue: United States District Court of Massachusetts.)

A: What legal procedures to abide by.
B: Whether the judge is assigned to a case from start to finish.
C: Where the proceeding is taking place.
D: Whether there will be a jury during trial or not.

Which of the following is not an administrative court/forum?

A: United States District Court
B: Bankruptcy Court
C: Social Security Court
D: Tax Court

True or False?
The job of the court is to resolve a dispute between parties.

How many types of courts are there?

A: Four
B: Five
C: Two
D: Three

List these courts in order of judiciary power, starting with the highest:

District
Appeals
Supreme

Fill in the blank:
U.S.C. stands for _______ which is a consolidation of federal _______.

A law created by Congress is which type of law?

A: Statutory
B: Common
C: Case

Torts are....

A: Case Law
B: Statutory Law
C: Common Law

Which of the following is not one of the ways court opinions are cited?
Sample citation: Smith v. Thomas, 146 U.S. 782 (2011)

A: Year case was filed
B: Case name
C: Page number
D: Year of decision
E: Volume number
F: Court's name

Fill in the blank:
Common law is considered a ______.

A: obvious law
B: statutory law
C: judge-made law

Fill in the blanks:

After deliberation, the jury gave the judge their final ______.
At the conclusion of the non-jury trial, the judge made their final _______.
After the defense attorney objected, the judge _______ to sustain the question.

The phrase "fed third" stands for the third set of federal volumes. It should be transcribed as:

A: F.3d
B: F.2d
C: 3d.F
D: 3.Fd

Fill in the blank:
Judge-made laws, known as _______ law, are laws that have developed from judgments handed down in court.

Why does an attorney reference case law?

A: To use past decisions to show why their point is correct.
B: To cite precedent.
C: To win an argument in court.
D: All of the above.

Regarding case law, _______ influence(s) future decisions?

A: the current President
B: the media
C: past decisions
D: Congress

True or False?
All courts must follow the law exactly, no matter how unreasonable or unfair the result.

True or False?
Statutory laws are limited to federal laws.

How are each type of law derived?
Tradition ----->
Legislature ----->
Prior Court Rulings ----->

Case Law
Statutory Law
Common Law

Which is the correct style for a citation in the United States Code?

A: U.S.C. 27 3423(a)(1(B)
B: 27 U.S.C. 3423(a)(1)(B)
C: 27 3423(a)(1(B) U.S.C.
D: 27 (a)(1)(B)3423 U.S.C.

ORDER THE LIFE CYCLE OF A CASE FROM LEFT TO RIGHT

Pleadings
Discovery
Appeal
Trial
Complaint

TYPE OF WITNESS MATCH

___________ - Provides facts and/or opinions about the case
___________ - Fact witness that may not give an opinion
___________ - Speaks as to person's tendencies and personality
___________ - Testifies about something they observed

Percipient Witness
Character Witness
Lay Witness
Expert Witness

True or False?
Parties never exchange documents, so it is a secret what information you have when you go to trial.

TYPE OF WITNESS MATCH

Types of witnesses:
Lay ------>
Expert ------>
Character ------>

fact witness about the case
fact and opinion witness on a specific topic
testifies on if someone is a good person

If the case is about a car accident on 10/19/2022, which term describes that date?

A: Date of Injury
B: Day of Injury
C: Day of Accident
D: Date of Loss

Can a lay witness give an opinion during their testimony?

A: No
B: Yes

During trial the attorney who calls a witness gets to ask them questions first. What is it called when that attorney is asking their second round of questions?

A: direct examination
B: redirect examination
C: cross-examination
D: recross-examination

Match the parties with their position in the case.

Defendant ---->
Plaintiff ----->

Party who is accused of wrongdoing
Party that feels they have been wronged

Is the burden of proof on the plaintiff for both criminal and civil cases?

A: Yes
B: No

At what point in the lifecycle of a case does a deposition usually take place?

A: During interrogatories.
B: During document production.
C: During discovery.
D: Presuit
E: Trial
F: Appeal

Burden of Proof:

Criminal ----->
Civil ----->

Decided by evidence beyond a reasonable doubt
Decided by a preponderance of the evidence

COUNSEL: Match the following terms to the correct definitions.

- Outside Counsel
- Pro Se
- et. seq.
- Third Party
- Pro Hac Vice
- et al.

- A PARTY WHO IS SUED BY THE ORGINAL DEFENDANT
- IN REGARDS TO A CASE, THIS MEANS THERE ARE MORE PARTIES THAT AREN'T LISTED
- A LAWYER WHO WORKS FOR A LAW FIRM
- A PARTY WHO REPRESENTS THEMSELVES INSTEAD OF HIRING A LAWYER
- ADDING A LAWYER TO A CASE IN A JURISDICTION IN WHICH THEY ARE NOT LICENSED
- AND THE FOLLOWING

Fill in the blank:

Dismissal of a case ____________ prejudice means that the action can be brought again at another time.

Joseph Smalls, Esquire, is a defense attorney. Whom does he represent in the following case?
Case Name: Ridgewood v. Sky Lounge and Viclow Builders

A: Viclow Builders
B: Ridgewood
C: Sky Lounge
D: Sky Lounge and/or Viclow Builders

Fill in the blanks:

A pleading is a formal statement with the plaintiff's cause of action or the defendant's response to the cause of action.
The _________ is the plaintiff's cause of action.
The _________ is the defendant's response.

Match the party who filed the case with the party being sued.

Petitioner
Plaintiff
Employee
Insured

- Respondent
- Defendant
- Employer
- Insurer

What do you call a case when an employee is injured on the job?

A: Employer Case
B: Workers' Compensation
C: Employee Compensation
D: Disgruntled Employee

Which of the following is part of the discovery phase of a case?

A: The appellate process
B: Filing the complaint
C: Written interrogatories

Fill in the blank:

Dismissal of a case ________ prejudice means that the action cannot be brought again.

Which of the following is the correct order?

A: Direct examination, cross-examination, redirect examination, recross-examination
B: Cross-examination, recross-examination, direct examination, redirect examination
C: Cross-examination, direct examination, recross-examination, redirect examination
D: Direct examination, redirect examination, cross-examination, recross-examination