Exam 2: The Court Systems

A suit tried in federal court must use federal law to resolve the matter; a suit tried in state court must use state law to resolve the matter.

Nearly all appeals to the Supreme Court are accepted at its discretion.

A defendant may not remove a case to federal court if:

A suit involving a dispute for $1 million over a contract signed in California under California law with parties from two different states could be tried in federal court using federal law or in a California court using California law.

Fact Pattern 2-1 Yoshi, a Japanese citizen working in Atlanta for his Tokyo firm, decided to rent an airplane and fly himself to the Annual Catfish and Zydeco festival in Thibodaux, Louisiana. He rented a small plane to fly there. Over Alabama, thunderstorms formed. Because Yoshi was not trained to fly by instruments, he decided to land at the next airport. As he searched for a runway, Yoshi heard a loud clank followed by silence as the engine died. He tried to land in a field but crashed. While recovering in a rehabilitation center in California, Yoshi filed suit there against the Atlanta Airport and the owners of the airplane, alleging that they were negligent in their maintenance. -Refer to Fact Pattern 2-1. If Yoshi's case was tried in federal court in California and the issue of substantive law was whether or not a contract existed between Yoshi and the airplane owner, the court would apply the law of Georgia.

The Commercial Court in London:

In Blimka v. My Web Wholesalers an Idaho resident, Blimka, ordered a large quantity of jeans from My Web, a Maine company that advertised its goods on the Internet. When a dispute arose over the quality of the jeans, Blimka sued My Web in Idaho state court. My Web contended the Idaho court did not have jurisdiction. The Idaho high court held that:

Federal courts have exclusive jurisdiction over cases involving:

The plaintiff is the party who initiates a lawsuit.

Every state has one federal district court judge, for a total of 50 in the U.S.

Although it has nationwide jurisdiction, the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit primarily hears appeals from the district courts involving:

In both the federal and state systems, the courts of original jurisdiction are:

State courts may never have jurisdiction in which of the following situations?

Fact Pattern 2-1 Yoshi, a Japanese citizen working in Atlanta for his Tokyo firm, decided to rent an airplane and fly himself to the Annual Catfish and Zydeco festival in Thibodaux, Louisiana. He rented a small plane to fly there. Over Alabama, thunderstorms formed. Because Yoshi was not trained to fly by instruments, he decided to land at the next airport. As he searched for a runway, Yoshi heard a loud clank followed by silence as the engine died. He tried to land in a field but crashed. While recovering in a rehabilitation center in California, Yoshi filed suit there against the Atlanta Airport and the owners of the airplane, alleging that they were negligent in their maintenance. -Refer to Fact Pattern 2-1. If Yoshi wants to obtain jurisdiction over the owner of the airplane he may:

In rem jurisdiction can include jurisdiction over:

When a state court hears a case involving incidents that took place in more than one state or entirely in a different state a ____ problem may arise.

Jurisdiction means the "authority of government" by a court.

Concurrent jurisdiction is when the:

In Erie Railroad Co. v. Tompkins, where Tompkins sued a New York company that owned a train that hit him in Pennsylvania:

When considering a motion to transfer a case for forum non conveniens a court considers: