Exam 6: The Court System and Alternative Dispute Resolution

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Subject-matter jurisdiction is the court's authority to hear certain types of disputes. Personal jurisdiction is the court's authority to hear and decide a specific case against the parties involved, generally residents of a certain geographic area. A long-arm statute is a statute that permits a state to obtain personal jurisdiction over nonresidents. The nonresidents must have certain "minimum contacts" with that state for the statute to apply.
Original jurisdiction is the power of a court to take a case, try it, and decide it. Appellate jurisdiction is the power of the court to hear and decide an appeal-that is, the power and authority of a court to review cases that already have been tried in a lower court. The difference between original jurisdiction and appellate jurisdiction is that courts with original jurisdiction are trial courts where evidence is presented (i.e., they hear the case for the first time). Courts with appellate jurisdiction are the reviewing courts, or appellate courts, that review the decisions of the trial courts and make subsequent decisions in the case.