California Law
California's Legal & Judicial System
California's Legal & Judicial System
It may be useful for a person thinking about initiating a legal action to understand the legal and judicial system that exists in California. One of the most confusing aspects of the judicial system is that there are two separate systems: state and federal. The majority of cases are filed in state courts. This chapter discusses the state and federal systems and summarizes the jurisdictions of both. Claims that arise on Native American lands may be subject to tribal courts and not the state or federal courts.The Process of a Lawsuit Chapter outlines how a case goes through the state civil and criminal process. The Civil Appellate Law Chapter details the appeals process.
As one may remember from civics class, there are three branches of government: legislative, executive, and judicial. The legislative branch creates the laws, the executive branch enforces the laws, and the judicial branch interprets the laws. Laws also are called statutes or codes. The executive branch can create rules or regulations to govern its administrative procedures and the judicial branch also may interpret these rules or regulations.
When a case is heard in a court, the court applies the law to the facts of the case and a decision is made. There are many sources of law the court uses in making its decision: the Constitutions of both the United States and California, statutes, regulations, and the court's prior decisions or decisions made by higher courts (case law). The way in which a court answers a legal question is binding on all lower courts within that jurisdiction when faced with the same legal question. For example, if the California Supreme Court decides a legal question, all state courts in California must follow that decision. However, state courts in Oregon would not have to follow the California decision because they are in a different jurisdiction.
Representation
Perhaps the first question a business person may ask is, "Do I really need a lawyer to handle my legal affairs?" The best answer is almost always yes. Occasionally, a business is able to rely on non-lawyers to handle some legal matters. For example, some companies hire paralegals to draft routine contracts. For most legal matters, however, hiring a lawyer is essential. Obviously, when a business is sued or thinking of bringing a lawsuit, the business should have an attorney representing its interests. In rare instances, a businessperson may be permitted to represent himself or herself. For example, landlords frequently appear in conciliation court without a lawyer. In the majority of cases, however, a company hires counsel to represent itself and in some cases, must be represented by counsel.
Jurisdiction
When a person decides to file a legal action, he or she must decide in which court system to file the case. The court in which a person files a case depends on which court has jurisdiction over such cases. Jurisdiction is the power and authority of particular court to decide a case. If a court does not have subject matter jurisdiction--the authority to decide the particular type of case--it may not decide the case. A court also must have personal jurisdiction over the defendant in a case. There are different ways in which a court may have personal jurisdiction, such as the defendant's residence or business being within the court's geographical region. For example, a California plaintiff may not bring an action in a California superior court against a defendant who lives and works in another state, if that defendant has no contact with the state of California. Jurisdiction is set in law, constitutions, or case law. Some courts have overlapping jurisdiction, giving a person a choice of where to file an action.
There are three types of subject matter jurisdiction: exclusive, general, and limited. Exclusive jurisdiction means that only a particular court has authority to decide a case. An example of a court having exclusive subject matter jurisdiction is bankruptcy court. Only in a federal bankruptcy court can a person file a bankruptcy action. State courts have no jurisdiction in bankruptcy cases. General jurisdiction means that a court has the ability to hear and decide a wide range of cases. Unless a law or constitutional provision denies them jurisdiction, courts of general jurisdiction have authority to handle any kind of case. The California superior courts are general jurisdiction courts. Limited jurisdiction means that a court has restrictions on the types of cases it decides. Small claims court is a court of limited jurisdiction because it can only hear and decide cases that claim damages of $2500 or less.
Venue
Venue frequently is confused with jurisdiction. While jurisdiction asks whether a court system has authority to hear a case, venue asks which court within a jurisdiction should hear and decide a case. In California, a case usually is brought in the county in which the claim originates or where one or more defendants reside. For example, if a person is hit by a car in San Jose, and the car was driven by a person from Pasadena, an action against the driver could be filed either in Los Angeles County (Pasadena) or in Santa Clara County (San Jose). Change of venue can be requested by either of the parties. For example, a corporate defendant in San Diego might request a change of venue to Oakland because adverse publicity in San Diego makes it impossible for the corporation to get a fair trial in San Diego or because most of its files are located in Oakland. However, the defendant could not request that the trial be moved to Portland, because Oregon courts lack jurisdiction.
State and Federal Courts
As previously mentioned, there are two separate court systems: state and federal. Which court system a person enters depends on a number of factors: whether a court has exclusive jurisdiction over the subject matter of the case, the amount of damages involved, and the locations of the parties in the case.
California State Courts
California has three levels to its court system: superior courts, courts of appeal, and the Supreme Court. California has divided its 57 counties into six superior court districts. Each superior court district is composed of anywhere from four to 23 counties. Each of California's counties has a superior court that is located in the county seat and in other locations as permitted by statute. Each superior court hears cases in each county within its district at some time. As previously mentioned, the superior court has general subject matter jurisdiction and handles a wide variety of cases, both civil and criminal. Depending on the size of the district, some have created specific divisions to handle certain matters such as probate law or family law. The superior court also hears appeals from small claims court. There are three special courts that were created by the executive branch to address specific areas--juvenile court, municipal court and workers' compensation court. The superior courts are courts of original jurisdiction, that is, cases start there. That is where trials are held, witnesses testify, evidence is presented, and judgments are rendered. A person who loses a case in superior court may appeal it. Appeals from superior court are typically filed in a California court of appeal.
Unlike the superior courts, which hear trials with witnesses, jurors, and evidence, the primary function of the California court of appeal is to determine whether there has been an error at the superior court level and, if so, to remedy it. The court of appeal reviews the transcript from the superior court and also may consider written and oral arguments. The court of appeal reverses or affirms a superior court ruling or sends it back to the superior court for additional action. The court of appeal hears most appeals from the superior courts unless the law specifically states that a particular appeal goes directly to the California Supreme Court. The court of appeal is made up of 88 judges who are divided into panels. These panels travel throughout the state hearing appeals. Appeals from the court of appeal are sent to the California Supreme Court.
The California Supreme Court is the highest court in the state. Like the court of appeal, it does not hold trials but reviews transcripts, takes written and oral arguments, and determines whether there has been an error at the lower court level. It may reverse, affirm, or remand a case. The supreme court is the rule-making body for the state courts and has administrative responsibility for the operation of the state court system. The California Supreme Court is composed of seven justices who hear appeals in San Francisco. A California Supreme Court decision is a final decision in California and may be appealed to the United States Supreme Court only if there is a federal issue involved.
Federal Courts
The federal court system hears both civil and criminal cases and also is broken down into three levels. There are generally three ways a case can be filed in federal court: the case involves a federal law, the case raises a question of United States Constitution interpretation, or the case involves parties from more than one state and the amount at stake is more than $50,000.
The federal government has divided the United States into federal judicial districts. The state of California has four federal judicial districts. The federal district courts for California are located in San Francisco, Sacramento, Los Angeles and San Diego. Like the state superior courts, the federal district court holds trials in cases over which it has jurisdiction.
Included in the federal system is the bankruptcy court. Federal bankruptcy courts have exclusive jurisdiction over bankruptcy matters. There are 11 bankruptcy court offices in four districts in California (Northern District: San Francisco, Santa Rosa, Oakland, and San Jose; Eastern District: Sacramento, Modesta, and Fresno; Central District: Los Angeles, Santa Ana, and San Bernardino; Southern District: San Diego).
The federal government groups the United States' federal judicial districts into circuits, and each circuit has a court of appeals. California is in the Ninth Circuit along with Alaska, Arizona, Guam, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon and Washington. The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals hears the appeals from the federal district courts within the circuit. As is true of California appellate courts, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals does not try cases, but only reviews cases from lower federal courts within the circuit. The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has its main office in San Francisco.
The United States Supreme Court hears appeals from the circuit courts of appeals (including the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals) and states' supreme courts (including the California Supreme Court), and other cases in which it has jurisdiction--cases between states, for example. The Court is made up of nine justices and is based in Washington, D.C. The Supreme Court has very broad discretion to decide which cases it will review and only a small percentage of the cases appealed to the United States Supreme Court are actually heard. As with other appellate courts, the refusal to hear an appeal lets stand the lower court's ruling.