The Constitution of the United States created a “federal system” that shares authority between a national government and the states.  As a result, we have parallel branches of government at both the federal and state levels – each has a chief executive, a legislature and a court system.  Both the federal courts and the state courts have exclusive jurisdiction to hear certain types of cases, but where jurisdiction is “concurrent,” a case can be heard in either a federal or a state court.

In this module, you’ll learn about the organization and jurisdiction of the federal courts.   The U.S. Constitution and federal statutes establish their subject matter jurisdiction over both cases that raise a federal question and cases where there is diversity of citizenship between the plaintiffs and the defendants.

You will also be introduced to the general structure and subject matter jurisdiction of the state courts, but keep in mind that states may create different courts or use different names for their courts.   While the highest court in most states is called the state Supreme Court, for example, in New York, the highest court is the Court of Appeals and the state Supreme Courts are trial courts!  Likewise, states may have different specialized courts or give them different names.  Thus, what some states call a Small Claims court, another might label a Magistrate’s court, with slightly different authority.  Another specialized court is a business court.  In 1772 — nearly 250 years ago — Delaware created the Court of Chancery, which has become the leading business court in the nation.  Since then, more than half the states have created some form of business courts.  In Georgia, Fulton County formed the first business court in the state in 2005, and in August 2020 a new statewide business court is scheduled to open.

In addition to having subject matter jurisdiction over the type of dispute before it, a court must also have jurisdiction over the parties to that lawsuit, which is called in personam or personal jurisdiction.  This module will also explain how a court obtains personal jurisdiction over non-resident defendants through the use of long-arm statutes.

The doctrines of standing and venue operate to limit who can bring a lawsuit and which court is the most appropriate to actually hear a particular case.  To reduce the uncertainty of where a dispute can be heard and which law may apply, the parties can include “forum-selection” and “choice of law” clauses into their contractual agreements.

If you are particularly interested in the Supreme Court or the Delaware Chancery Court, this module also provides you with enrichment materials that allow you to learn more about the history and function of these courts.  You can even listen to Supreme Court oral arguments!