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Are the following statements true or false?
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1. District courts review decisions that people protest.
2. Cases involving state laws are not heard in a federal court.
3. The Supreme Court hears all cases that are brought to it.
Understanding the Levels of US Federal Courts
District courts – These are general courts. But in some cases, the jurisdiction is passed to specialized courts. These include: bankruptcy courts, tax courts and the court of private land claims.
Court of Appeals – The Court of Appeals reviews all decisions in the lower courts that people object to.
State courts – These courts decide disputes that pertain to state laws rather than federal laws.
The Supreme Court – This is another appeals court, but it is the only court that operates under discretionary review. This means it can choose which cases to hear. The Supreme Court is also called a High Court in some countries.
Read the sentence and choose the correct word.
1. The (District / Supreme) Court decided not to review
Ms. Wright’s case against the company.
2. The case does not involve federal law, so it has to go through
the (state / bankruptcy) court.
3. The district court has (jurisdiction / claim) in Mr. Trujillo’s. case.
4. If Ms. Davis wants her money back, she needs to go through the
small (claims / discretionary) court.
Use the words from the bank to fill in the blanks.
discretionary review specialized
Supreme Appeals bankruptcy
1. The ___________ Court is called the High Court in Australia.
2. John decided to go to the Court of __________ because he didn’t
Agree with the decision.
3. The court will ___________ Mr. Allistair’s case next month.
4. Mr. Anderson is going to the ____________ court because he lost
a lot of money but has no way to pay it back.
5. The court has ___________ powers, so it may decide not to
investigate the case.
6. Ms. Ming’s case will go to a __________ court, not a general
court.
Listen and read the text again. What types of courts are there
In the USA?
Listen to a conversation between a client and his attorney. Then
a nswer the questions. Which courts might the client’s case be
Heard in?
- a state court
- a district court
- a court of appeal
- a specialized court
- the Supreme Court
Listen again and complete the conversation.
Client (M): So, is my case going to the 1 ________courts?
Attorney (F): No, that’s not going to happen.
Client: Why not? It’s a dispute with the state.
Attorney: Well, 2 _________courts usually have jurisdiction
over smaller cases like yours.
Client: I see. What do we do if the district court 3 ________
against us?
Attorney: We ask for the case to be 4 _________ in the
Court of Appeals.
Client: And they have to 5 _________it, right?
Attorney: Yes. There’s no 6 ________review in appeals
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courts. That’s reserved for the Supreme Court.
Use the conversation from Task 7 to complete a lawyer’s
Letter to a client.
T a m s i n G r e e r,
A t t o r n e y
Dear Mr. Moisey,
In response to your question, your case is not going to
the ______. It is going to a _______ because _____.
If you do not agree with the decision, the case goes to an
_______. They have to review it because _________.
Yours faithfully,
T. Greer
Unit 6
Jurisdiction
Before you read the passage, talk about these questions.
a) What are some things that determine which court hears
a certain case?
b) Sometimes a case could be heard in more than one type
of court. Why do you think this is?
Read the text and complete the table using information from it.
J u r i s d i c t i o n
Jurisdiction is the authority to judge legal matters. Jurisdiction is given to legal bodies or political leaders. There are three main types of jurisdiction:
1. Personal jurisdiction is authority over a person.
2. Territorial jurisdiction is authority over an area.
3. Subject jurisdiction is authority over a particular subject.
Jurisdiction in courts can be exclusive or concurrent. With exclusive court jurisdiction, only one court is able to decide the issue. With concurrent jurisdiction, more than one court is able to adjudicate. In this case, lawyers are able to go forum shopping. They choose the court which is more likely to rule in favor of their clients.
| 1 -------------------------- | Authority over a person |
| Territorial jurisdiction | 2 ------------------------- |
| 3 --------------------------- | Authority in one particular subject |
| Exclusive Jurisdiction | 4 --------------------------- |
| 5 --------------------------- | More than one court can decide the issue |
Choose the sentence that uses the underlined parts correctly.
1 A The district court has subject jurisdiction over ten towns in the
area.
B The lawyer was happy when the court ruled in favor of
his client.
2 A The manager has authority over all the workers in his
team.
B The judge went forum shopping to find a court to hear
his case.
3 A Schools, shops and churches are legal bodies.
B Judge Reynolds is going to adjudicate the case.
Write a word that is similar in meaning to the underlined
Part.
1. Mr. Jones wants to know which court has authority over
a region in this town.
t _ _ _ _ _ _ _ i _ _ j _ _ _ s _ _ _ _ _ o _
2. The district court’s jurisdiction in this matter is the only one.
e _ _ l _ _ _ _ _
3. In which circumstances does a court have authority over a
c ertain type of person?
p _ _ _ _ n _ _ _ u _ _ _ _ _ c _ _ _ _
4. Jurisdiction for the case is under the authority of several
different courts.
_ o _ _ _ r _ __ _ _
5. Ms. Carter is choosing a court to see which court is likely to
rule in her client’s favor.
f _ _ u _ _ _ o _ _ i _ g
6. The Department of Justice is one of the organizations that
enforce laws in the US.
_ e _ _ l _ o _ i _ _
7. The case is being heard in a civil court since that court has
authority over the topic.
_ u _ _ e _ _ _ j _ _ _ s _ _ c _ _ _ _
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Listen and read the text again. How many types of jurisdiction
Are there?
Listen to a conversation between two attorneys discussing a case.
Choose the correct answers.
1. Why does the man think the case is going to the district court?
A The case relates to a particular subject.
B He believes it has exclusive jurisdiction.
C He asked to have it tried in the district court.
D It might rule in their favor.
2. What is most likely to happen next?
A The man is going to research the subject of the case.
B The woman is going to adjudicate the case in the district
court.
C The woman is going to see which legal bodies have
jurisdiction.
D The man is going to make sure the case is under territorial
jurisdiction.
Listen again and complete the conversation.
Lawyer 1: Which court is this case going to?
Lawyer 2: Probably to the district court. It has 1 ________
jurisdiction.
Lawyer 1: A subject-specific court is able to 2 _______ this
matter, too. Right?
Lawyer 2: I don’t think so.
Lawyer 1: Really? I thought jurisdiction was 3 _______.
Lawyer 2: You’re 4 _______to check. But I don’t think any
other 5 ______ ______have authority.
Lawyer 1: I’ll find out. I think we could choose a court
more likely to rule in our 6 ______.
Lawyer 2: I hope you’re right.
Use the conversation from Task 7 to complete the attorney’s
Notes.
N O T E S
The case is likely to go to the _____ ______ because ____.
______ believes that ______ can also _______.
We must check whether there is ______ _______.
Then we can choose a court that ______.
Unit 7
Jury Duty
- Before you read the passage, talk about these questions.
a) Who must be in a courtroom during the trial?
b) How can lawyers be sure that jurors will be fair?
Read this court pamphlet. Are the following statements
True or false?
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