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| Civil law differs from criminal law in 2 major facts. 1st, the entity that seeks court action in civil law is the individual that was damaged, whereas in criminal cases, the gov/state pursues the court action. 2nd, a violation of civil law does not hold the penalty of jail time. |
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| A doctrine is a line of legal thinking that a series of courts follows even though it is not statutory in nature. In other words, no legislature has passed a law regarding the subject matter contained in the doctrine. |
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| Where there is no common state citizenship between the plaintiffs and defendants. All parties on one side are citizens of different states from all parties on the opposing side. |
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| Also called a 'Claim for Relief' the cause of action must exist in order to sue. (To sue is to file civil litigation). |
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A pleading states a party's position in litigation. For EX:
- the Complaint says the Defendant harmed the Plaintiff.
- the Answer is the Defendant responding, "No, I didn't!"
- the Affirmative Defense is the Defendant saying, "Nobody can be blamed."
- the Counterclaim is where the Defendant says, "The Plaintiff hurt me!"
- the Cross Claim is the Defendant saying, "It wasn't my fault. It was someone else's fault!"
- the Reply is the Plaintiff responding to the Counterclaim, saying, "I didn't hurt the Defendant!" |
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| This is the part of the complaint that tells the court what it is exactly that the party is asking the court to do. |
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When an attorney says process, they mean "Summons & Complaint." So, when a Attny asks whether process has been serves, they are asking whether the summons & complaint have been delivered to the defendant.
Process = Summons and Complaint |
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| If a Defendant is served with legal documents, such as the summons and complaint, in person, it is, obviously, personal service. If a Defendant has a person or company that has been hired to accept service for him/her/it, that is called substitute service. The person/company that accepts service is usually called a registered agent or resident agent. You can find the registered agent for a company by contacting the Secretary of State's office. |
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| This is the legal power a court has to determine the outcome of a legal dispute. Venue is the physical location of the trial. The address. |
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| If either party lives in the authorized area of the court in question, that court could hear the case through in personam jurisdiction. |
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| If the property exists, or the controversy occurred within the authorized area of the court, it can hear the matter under in rem jurisdiction. |
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