Northern Virginia Personal Injury Lawyer Blog : Northern Virginia Injury Lawyer & Attorney : Brien Roche Law Firm : Medical Malpractice, Product Liability, Car Accidents : Washington DC, North Virginia, Maryland

Case law for the most part comes from appellate courts. The appellate courts may be intermediate courts or they may be the high court of that state or court system. For instance, there is an abundance of case law rendered by the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. Likewise, there is a wealth of decisions rendered by the United States Supreme Court.

The decisions of the appellate courts are contained within various bound volumes published by different law publishing companies. A written decision rendered by a United States District Court judge may be published in legal books known as the Federal Supplement (abbreviated F. Supp.).

Example: A decision rendered by a United States District Court judge is generally referred to by the name of the parties, e.g., Jones v. Smith, 317 F. Supp. 2d 820 (N.D.IL. 2004). That case would then be found in volume 317 of the Federal Supplement Second beginning on page 820. The parenthetical means that it is a decision from a United States District judge in the Northern District of Illinois, that was rendered in 2004.

NOTE: The volumes are put into series and when they reach a certain number, generally 999, the numbering begins again at one. That is why you will find a 2d or 3d in the citation.

Decisions rendered by a United States Circuit Court of Appeals are found in law books known as the Federal Reporter. For instance, a decision rendered by the United States Circuit Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit could be reported at 356 F.3d 121 (9th Circ. 2004). That citation means that the decision was rendered by the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in 2004 and can be found in Volume 356 of the Federal Reporter Third Series at page 121.

Decisions from the United States Supreme Court may be reported in three different reporting systems, all of which are published by different publishing houses. For instance, a decision from the United States Supreme Court would frequently be referred to as Jones v. Smith 535 U.S. 85, 125 S. Ct. 25, 159 L. Ed. 2d 125 (2004). That decision would be found in any one of those three volumes with the first volume being referred to as the United States Reporter, Case Law 23 Volume 535, page 85. That same decision can also be found in the Supreme Court Reporter, in Volume 125, page 25 and would also be found in the Lawyer’s Edition Second Series in volume 159, page 125. The year refers to the year when the decision was rendered.
 

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The case law referred to earlier in this chapter consists of the written decisions of the various courts. Typically, trial courts do not generate case law. Even though a trial court judge may issue a written opinion (also called a decision) in a given case, that decision has very limited application. Decisions rendered by trial judges are only binding in regard to that specific case. They do not necessarily have any controlling effect upon any other trial judge within that trial court and do not have any controlling effect on any trial judge in any other trial court. Trial courts are the lowest tribunal and as such any written decisions rendered by trial court judges are of limited application.

Many cases decided by trial courts are decided by juries. Juries do not render written decisions explaining their analysis of the case, but rather simply render a verdict. That verdict in a civil case would be either in favor of the plaintiff or in favor of the defendant. If the verdict is in favor of the plaintiff and there is an amount of money being sought by the plaintiff, then the jury would fix the amount of the monetary award (i.e., value the damages). If there is no jury deciding the case, then the judge may enter a verdict or a judgment order fixing the amount of damages or granting one party the form of relief that is sought.
 

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The state court systems vary dramatically from state to state. Some states have a single trial court. In these states, the trial court is generally referred to as a court of general jurisdiction, wherein all civil and criminal cases are initiated.

Other states have what is referred to as a two-tier trial court system. In the state of Virginia, the lowest trial court is the General District Court. That court hears all criminal misdemeanor cases and can also hear all civil cases wherein the amount claimed is less than $15,000. (A misdemeanor is a crime wherein the potential penalty is no more than one year in jail.) There are no juries in the General District Court. Any case that is heard in the General District Court may then be appealed to the Circuit Court, where the party bringing the appeal is entitled to a new trial (referred to as a trial de novo). In the Circuit Court either party can request a jury trial. The Circuit Court is a court of general jurisdiction, meaning that virtually any type of case can be brought within the circuit court.

Many states also have what is referred to as an intermediate court of appeals. That intermediate court of appeals is essentially the equivalent of the United States Circuit Court of Appeals, except that the state intermediate court of appeals only hears appeals from the state trial courts. These intermediate courts of appeals generally will hear any case that is appealed to them. However, in some states the intermediate courts of appeals are courts of limited jurisdiction and may have authority to only hear certain types of cases.

The highest court in most states is referred to as the Supreme Court, but some states may refer to their highest court by a different name. That high court may be a court of discretionary appeal, meaning that they exercise discretion as to which cases they will hear, much like the U.S. Supreme Court. These courts of appeal, whether they be intermediate or supreme, do not actually try cases, but simply review briefs and records submitted to them by the attorneys, then hear oral arguments and make a decision.
 

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It is important to make a clear distinction in your mind between criminal cases and civil cases. A criminal case is, in essence, a lawsuit brought by the government acting through a prosecutor against an individual who is accused of violating a criminal statute. For instance, if you deface a federal building, you may be charged with a federal crime in a federal courthouse. Or if you punch your next door neighbor in the nose on private property, you most likely would be charged with a violation of a state criminal statute. It would be tried in state court before a state court judge, and you would have the right to have a jury present, with that jury being drawn from the cities, counties, or towns where that court had jurisdiction.

A civil case, on the other hand, does not involve any criminal penalty. A civil case involves a claim for monetary relief or a claim for equitable relief. For instance, if you are injured in an automobile accident, you may have a right to sue that other party for monetary damages seeking compensation for your medical expenses, loss of income, and pain and suffering. In a claim seeking equitable relief, you are asking the court to order the other party to either do or not do something. For example, you may sue your next door neighbors to enjoin, or prevent, them from extending their home onto your private property. In that case, you are not asking for money damages but for an order to enjoin your neighbors from constructing their home on your private property. There are a wide variety of civil cases that may be instituted.

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The federal court system is somewhat more integrated than the state courts because the federal courts do not necessarily recognize state boundaries in terms of their authority. The federal courts consist of the Supreme Court, circuit, and district courts.

The U.S. Supreme Court is the most important federal court. It sits in Washington, D.C., and is composed of nine judges, or justices, who are nominated by the president and then approved by the Senate. The sitting justices are all attorneys, and in fact, most of them are former judges from lower courts who have been elevated to the U.S. Supreme Court. However, there is no requirement that a U.S. Supreme Court justice be an attorney.

The United States Supreme Court is a court of discretionary appeal. That means it exercises its discretion in deciding which cases it will hear. As a court of appeal, it does not actually try cases, but rather, it simply reviews legal briefs as submitted by attorneys or litigants. It hears oral arguments that are limited to an hour or two and thereafter renders a written decision. The U.S. Supreme Court does not actually hear from witnesses, hear evidence, or resolve factual disputes as might be done by a jury. Rather, it simply reviews the record presented from the trial that occurred in the lower court, and then determines whether or not there was a procedural, evidentiary, or constitutional error committed at the trial court level.

In order to have a case presented to the U.S. Supreme Court, the party who is requesting the hearing must first file a petition. If the petition is denied, the case will not be heard by the U.S. Supreme Court. If the petition is granted, the nine justices will hear the appeal and render a decision. Thousands of cases are appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court every year, but only a very small percentage of them are actually heard.

Example: In the 2002 term, 8,255 cases were appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, but the U.S. Supreme Court only issued written decisions in seventy-nine cases.

The federal court system is essentially shaped like a pyramid. At the top of the pyramid is the U.S. Supreme Court. The U.S. Supreme Court is, as its name suggests, supreme and is final in the sense that it is the court of last resort. There is no higher court. Below the U.S. Supreme Court are eleven U.S. Circuit Courts of Appeals. The United States is divided into eleven numbered federal circuits, plus two additional circuits designated the D.C. Circuit and the Federal Circuit. Within each of those circuits is a U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. These courts hear appeals from either the trial court below or from certain federal agencies that have a right of direct appeal to the U.S. Circuit Courts.

These U.S. Circuit Courts are somewhat similar to the U.S. Supreme Court in that they are simply courts of appeal. The U.S. Circuit Courts do not actually try cases—they do not hear evidence, the litigants do not testify in front of them, and they do not typically resolve factual questions as would be done by a jury. The U.S. Courts of Appeals simply review briefs submitted to them by attorneys, then hear oral argument from the attorneys, and thereafter render a written decision or issue an order either affirming, modifying, or overruling the decision from the trial court.

The diagram is designed to show in a general framework the layout of the court system on both the federal level and the state level.

COURT SYSTEM

COURT                       FEDERAL SYSTEM                        STATE SYSTEM

Highest Court            U.S. Supreme Court                      Name may vary from state to state,
                                                                                          but frequently called Supreme Court.

Intermediate
Court of Appeals       U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals     Name may vary from state to state.

Trial Court                  U.S. District Court                           Name may vary from state to state. 
                                                                                              Some states have a single-tiered trial 
                                                                                              court. Other states have a two-tiered 
                                                                                              trial court system, which means that 
                                                                                              there are two different levels—one 
                                                                                              being a higher trial court for more 
                                                                                              serious matters and the other being a 
                                                                                              lower trial court for less serious 
                                                                                              matters.

Below the U.S. Circuit Courts of Appeals are the U.S. District Courts, which are the trial courts within the federal system. The United States is divided into ninety-four federal districts. For instance, in the state of Virginia there are two federal districts: the Eastern District of Virginia and the Western District of Virginia. In the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, there are several different divisions that are part of that federal district. A division simply means that there is a courthouse located in that locality to serve the counties or cities within proximity of that courthouse.

The United States District Courts are presided over by United States District judges, who are nominated by the President to their position and then approved by the Senate. There may also be magistrates within the United States District Court, who are judicial officers with the authority to hear certain types of cases assigned to them by the United States District judge.

The United States District Court as a trial court is a court of limited jurisdiction, meaning that it has only limited authority to hear certain types of cases. In the criminal area, the United States District Courts can only hear cases that involve any federal crime (i.e., a violation of federal law). For instance, referring back to the Rodney King case, the police officers in that case were charged with a violation of federal civil rights law. They were tried in a United States District Court before a United States District Court judge with a jury that was composed of citizens within that United States district.

United States District Courts, as courts of limited jurisdiction, can only hear cases that involve either a question of federal law (federal question) or that involve disputes between citizens of different states. This latter requirement, dealing with citizens of different states, is known as diversity jurisdiction in the federal courts. For example, a citizen of the state of Connecticut may sue a citizen of the state of Mississippi in the United States District Court of Mississippi relating to an automobile accident that occurred in Ohio.

Federal law not only requires that there be diversity of citizenship, but also that the amount sued for (the amount in controversy) be at least $75,000. As such, if you were involved in an automobile accident in the state of Texas while you were a citizen of Texas and the other party likewise was a citizen of Texas, you could not bring that suit in federal court because there is no diversity of citizenship. If, on the other hand, the other party to the automobile accident was driving a United States postal truck, the case would be brought in the United States District Court, since it is a claim against the U.S. Government based on a federal statute (e.g., the Federal Tort Claims Act).

A criminal case is, in essence, a lawsuit brought by the government acting through a prosecutor against an individual who is accused of violating a criminal statute.

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Case law is the law as stated in specific cases decided by courts. Case law is in written form, and generally contains a brief synopsis of the facts of the case, an analysis of the legal principles that apply, and a statement of the court’s decision (what is generally known as the holding of the case). The holding is the crux of the decision rendered by that court. Insofar as that court has jurisdiction or authority to interpret the law, the holding then becomes law. Any language in the case decision other than the holding is surplus language, or what may be referred to as obiter dictum (or simply dicta). The dicta within a court decision is not binding law, but rather is simply utilized by that court to explain its rationale.

To fully understand the scope of case law and what effect it has upon our daily lives, it is necessary to understand the structure of the court system. In the United States there are two entirely separate and distinct court systems—the federal court system and the state court system. Each state has its own court system that is entirely separate and entirely distinct from the federal system, and from the court systems of the other forty-nine states in the Union.
 

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