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LPI Final > CA Court Structure > Flashcards

CA Court Structure Flashcards

1
Q

CA Court Structure

A

3 tiers:

Supreme Court

Courts of Appeal

Trial Courts

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2
Q

Supreme Court of California (Structure/Authority/Schedule/Jurisdiction/Location)

A

1 chief justice, 6 associate justice, each nominated by governor
State’s highest court
Decisions binding on all CA courts
Conducts regular sessions in LA, SF, and Sacramento

Original Jurisdiction

Proceedings for extraordinary relief in the nature of:

Mandamus
Certiorari
Prohibition
Habeas Corpus

Also has Judicial Review in:

Any decision by the CA Courts of Appeal

and

All cases in which the death penalty has been assessed

Headquartered in San Francisco
All filings for the entire state, including petitions for review, writs, and legal briefs, are made at this location

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3
Q

Mandamus

A

An order requiring another court to take action in a certain case

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4
Q

Certiorari

A

Order granting review of another court’s act

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5
Q

Prohibition

A

Order prohibiting another court from taking a specific action

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6
Q

Habeas Corpus

A

Cases in which a person is seeking release from custody

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7
Q

Judicial Review (CA Supreme Court)

A

CA Supreme Court has the authority to review:

Decisions of the state Courts of Appeal

All Case in which a judgement of death has been pronounced by the trial court

Court selects specific issues for review, or may decide all the issues in a case

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8
Q

CA Courts of Appeal (Position in court Structure/Number of districts/number of divisions/number of justices)

A

Intermediate courts of review in California

6 Districts, each with at least 1 division

Total of 19 divisions and 106 justices

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9
Q

1st District Court of Appeal (Structure/Location)

A

San Francisco

5 divisions

Serving 12 counties

Alameda, contra costa, del norte, Humboldt, lake, marin, Mendocino, napa, san Francisco, san mateo, solano, and Sonoma

20 justices

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10
Q

2nd District (Structure/Location)

A

8 divisions

Serving 4 counties

Los angeles, ventura, santa Barbara, san luis obispo

32 justices

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11
Q

3rd District (Structure/Location)

A

Sacramento

1 division

23 counties

Alpine, Amador, butte, calaveras, Colusa, el dorado, glenn, lassen, modoc, mono, Nevada, placer, plumas, sacramento, san joaquin, shasta, sierra, siskiyou, sutter, tehama, trinity, yolo, yuba

11 justices

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12
Q

4th district (Structure/Location)

A

San diego, riverside, santa ana

3 divisions

6 counties

Imperial, inyo, orange, riverside, san Bernardino, san diego

25 justices

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13
Q

5th District (Structure/Location)

A

Fresno

1 division

10 justices

9 counties

Fresno, kern, kings, madera, mariposa, merced, Stanislaus, Tulare, and tuolumne

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14
Q

6th District (Structure/Location)

A

San Jose

1 division

7 justices

4 counties

Santa clara, san benito, santa cruz, monterey

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15
Q

Superior Court (Function/How Many/Jurisdiction/Divisions within superior court)

A

The trial courts in each county in California

58 trial courts in CA, one for each county

Have jurisdiction over all cases civil and criminal, except those specifically reserved to the Supreme Court or the Courts of Appeal, or other trial courts

In CA, the superior court is divided into three divisions:

1) General jurisdiction; 2) Limited Civil; 3) Small Claims

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16
Q

Cases in which Superior Court has Jurisdiction

A

General jurisdiction

Limited Civil Cases

Small Claims

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17
Q

Limited Civil Cases: Superior Court

A

Except as otherwise provided by statute, the superior court has original jurisdictions in a limited civil case. (Code Civ. Proc., § 85.)

Limited civil case is one where the amount in controversy is $25,000 or less

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18
Q

Small claims: Superior Court

A

In each superior court there shall be a small claims division (Code Civ. Proc., §§ 116.210 through 116.270.)

Generally claims limited to $5,000

An individual may claim up to $10,000 (a few exceptions to this rule can be found in the Code of Civil Procedure)

You can file as many claims as you want in given year so long as none of those claims are greater the $2,500

You can only file a maximum of two claims of over $2,500 in a given year

Collection agencies cannot sue in small claims court for debts they assigned

In small claims court, parties may not be represented by counsel

No jury trials

Only defendant has the right to appeal

However plaintiff may appeal claim of defendant

19
Q

Federal Court Structure

A

US. Supreme Court
U.S. Courts of Appeal
U.S. district courts

20
Q

U.S. Supreme Court

A

Final court/level of appeal in the U.S.

Highest Court in the U.S.A.

1 court

21
Q

U.S. Courts of Appeal

A

13-circuit court

CA=9th District

22
Q

U.S. district Courts

A

The general trial courts (criminal and civil) in the federal court system

4 Districts in CA: Northern, Southern, Central, Eastern

23
Q

Pleading Format (Sides of page/size of paper))

A

Only one side of each page may be used

All papers filed must be 8.5” x 11” and on white or unbleached standard quality paper

24
Q

Pleading Format Font

A

Size must not be smaller than 12 points
Courier, times new roman, or arial
Blue/black

25
Q

Pleading Format Margins

A

Left margin be at least 1” from left edge
Right margin at least .5” from right edge

26
Q

Pleading Format Line Spacing (General/Real Property/Footnotes and quotes)

A

Page must be one and one-half spaced or double-spaced and numbered consecutively
Descriptions of real property may be single-spaced
Footnotes and quotes may be single-spaced

27
Q

Pleading Format Page Numbers (Pagination/table of contents and table of authorities/roman numerals/consequences of misnumbered documents)

A

Each page must be numbered consecutively at the bottom, unless rules for the type of doc dictate otherwise

Page numbvering must begin with the first page (caption page)

Only Arabic numerals

Number can be suppressed and need not appear on the first page

Do not number table of contents, tables of authorities with roman numerals

Roman numerals outlawed in part bc they are difficult to enter when searching PDF

Doc may be rejected if pages are numbered incorrectly

28
Q

Pleading Format Footer

A

Except for exhibits, each paper filed with the court must bear a footer in the bottom margin of each page, placed below the page number and divided from the rest of the doc page by a printed line

Footer must contain title of paper or some clear/concise abbreviation

Font size of the title of the paper in the footer must be at least 10-point font

29
Q

Pleading Format Caption Page (left of center)

A

Attorney name(s) and State Bar number
Office address
Telephone number and fax number
Email address: (Does not consent to service by email unless otherwise provided by law)

Who is represented

On left side, Below title of court, put title of case: Plaintiff v defendant

On initial complaint or cross-complaint, the name of each party must commence on a separate line

Subsequent pleading/paper can use short title of the case: 1) Stating the name of the first party of each side; 2) Stating that a cross-action or actions are involved

30
Q

Pleading Format Caption Page: Right-of-center (General/If multiple parties/limited civil case)

A

To the right of the center of page:

Blank Space to be left b/w lines 1-7, for clerk to stamp doc

Case number goes to the right of and opposite title of case

Below case number, nature of paper

If multiple parties, any answer, response, or opposition must specifically identify the moving party and the complaint, motion, or other matter being answered or opposed

In the caption of every pleading and every other paper filed in a limited civil case, the words “limited civil case” as required by code of civil procedure section 422.30(b)

31
Q

Pleading Format Caption Page (title of Court/e-filing/e-exhibits/text in e-format/form of electronic submission/doc conversion/scanning specs))

A

Format defined by Cal. Rules of court, rule 2.111

Title of the court on or directly below line 8

Some courts have special rules for e-filing, you must always check local rules:

Electronic exhibits must be bookmarked

Text must be searchable

Submitted as pdf(s)

Doc should be converted directly to pdf from word/wordperfect if possible

Make sure to scan for metadata before filing

If you have to scan docs, scan at least 300 dpi

32
Q

Judicial Council of California (What is it/Functions/forms)

A

Policymaking body of the CA courts

One of the JC’s most well-known functions if the promulgation of a huge number of standard court forms for use in CA judicial proceedings

Forms are updated throughout the year

Make sure not to use old versions

Forms are usually fill in the blank

https://www.courts.ca.gov/forms.htm

33
Q

Judicial Council Forms (How to tell if mandatory/mandatory forms/optional forms)

A

To find out, check lower lefthand corner of form

Mandatory: Summons, civil case cover sheet, request for entry of default, civil cubpoena

Optional: Proof of Service by Mail, answer, request for a0dmission

34
Q

Judicial Council Website

A

Free
Cannot save unless you have Adobe Acrobat (not just Adobe reader)
No control over formatting, field entry, text placement

35
Q

Judicial Council commercial software

A

Paid

Legal Solutions, hotDocs, SmartLaser

Much more time efficient

Can save work, organize by client name, will fill in known fields automatically

Can change font size/type, add fields where needed, create templates

36
Q

Law Libraries

A

Law libraries becoming obsolete with the rise of online research, but firms sometimes still use them

37
Q

Updating Law Books (How often are they updated/non-updated books/instructions/responsibility of assistant/pocket parts)

A

Generally, all books in a law library will be updated once/twice a year

Depends on the changes to the law and the type of book

Book should not be used as a reference if it has not been updated

Update will include instructions and the new insert pages

It will be your responsibility to read through the instructions and carefully discard the old pages and insert the new pages

Some updates are called “pocket parts” and are designed to insert in a special pocket at the back of the book

38
Q

Primary Sources (4 things)

A

Written constitutions

Codified statutes (codes):

Legislative bills which have been signed into law

Published judicial decisions (case law):

39
Q

Secondary Sources

A

Any commentary on the law that’s not written by court, legislature, or administrative agency

Such sources are never controlling, and at best can be persuasive

Digests
Treatises
Restatements of law
Legal periodicals
Dictionaries

40
Q

Ninth Circuit

A

U.S. Federal Court district in which California is located, covers 15 federal judicial districts, including the four such districts that comprise California

41
Q

Pleading Format Line numbers (Placement/alignment/numbering)

A

Must be placed at the left margin and separated from the text by a vertical column of space at least 1/5 inch wide or a single/double vertical line

Each line number must be aligned with a line of type, or the line numbers must be evenly spaced vertically on the page

Line numbers must be consecutively numbered, beginning with one (1) on each page

42
Q

When Does CA Supreme Court hear oral arguments in SF/LA/SAC

A

Oral argument is heard in LA in April, June and December
Oral args heard in Sacramento in February and November
In san Francisco oral args are heard January, march, may, September, and October

43
Q

CA Courts of Appeal (Primary role/basis for decision/judges/published verdicts)

A

Primary role is to hear appeals from cases in the superior court, not in order to retry the case but in order to determine if legal errors were made

Cases decided by three-judge panel

Their decisions, called opinions, are published in the California Appellate Reports, jf those opinions meet certain criteria for publication

Each opinion, whether published or not, is public record and appears on court website as issued

44
Q

Courts of Appeal (Original Jurisdiction/Appellate Jurisdiction/Who must the Appeals court hear from/how cases are decided))

A

Like the CA Supreme Court, the CA Courts of Appeal have original jurisdiction in Habeas corpus, mandamus, certiorari, and prohibition proceedings

Appellate jurisdiction when the trial courts have original jurisdiction

Receive appeals from decisions of the Workers’ Compensation Appeals Board; the Agricultural Relations Appeals Board; the Public Employment Relations Board

Do not hear testimony or retry cases
Decisions based on the record from the original trial proceeding

LPI Final (17 decks)

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