Any other formal or informal process used to settle disputes without resorting to a trial. 

1. Negotiation     3. Arbitration 
2. Mediation       4. Mandatory Arbitration 

A neutral person, called the mediator, attempts to coax the two disputing parties into a settlement. 

• Disputants voluntarily enter mediation
• Both disputants must sign the agreement in the end, so both sides are more likely to end up happy. 

When the parties agree to bring in a neutral third party, except the arbitrator has the power to impose an award. 

• In this form of ADR the parties lose the right to discovery and class action

The parties agree IN ADVANCE to arbirtrate any disputes that may arise. 

• Good news fewer lawsuits, the bad news is that you may be the person out of court.  

The party that loses at the trial court may appeal to the intermediate court of appeals.

Both sides submit written arguments on the case, called briefs, each side has 15 mins to convince the panel of three judges to see their side. 

The nation is divided into 94 districts, each with its own trial court. There are other specialized trial courts like:

• Bankruptcy Court
• Tax Court
• United State court of international trade
• United States claims Courts (hears cases against the US) 

• There are 11 numbered circuits hearing appeals from district courts. 
• Washington D.C. has two more courts: The Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, and the Federal Circuit which hears cases from specialized courts

• There are nine justices
• Writ of certiorari is a petition for the SC to hear a lower court hearing
• They only accept 100 cases a year

Form of discovery in which one party's lawyer is able to question the other party, or potential witness, under oath. 

• The person being questioned is the deponent.

The plaintiff has the burden of proof. 

• Prove case by prepondereance of the evidence, or it must concince the jury that its version of the facts is at least slightly more likely than the defendant's. 

A ruling that the plaintiff has entirely failed to prove some aspect of her case. 

• A directed verdict is permissible only if the evidence so clearly favors the defendant that reasonable minds could not disagree on it. 

Before depringing anyone of liberty or porperty, the government must go through certain procedures to ensure that the result is fair. 

*Refers to the 5th Amendment, or the Due process and Taking clause

A) What sort of hearing the government must offer depends upon how imporrtant the prperty or liberty interest is and on whetehr the government has a competing need for efficiency. 

B) There must be a neutral fact finder. (Ward v. Monroeville)

C) Attachments keep the defendant from selling their assets that could be used as payment if the plaintiff wins. (Connecticut v. Doehr made it more difficult)

D) When being fired by the government you are entilted to procedural due process

E) Academic suspension 

When the government takes property for public use, such as to build a new highway, it has to pay a fair price. 

*Refers to the 5th amendment

A) Before a government may require an owner to dedicate land to a public use, it must show that this owern's proposed building requires this dedicaton of land. 

B) Palazzolo v. Rhode Island
-Future property holders must also be allowed to challenge potentially unreasonable regulations. 

Some rights are so fundamental that the government may not take them from us at all. 

*Referes to 5th Amendment

A) State or federal laws regulating wages, working conditions, discrimination, union rights, and any similar topics are presumed valid. 

B) Courts now treats cases involving economic and social regulations differently than cases involving fundamental rights. 

C) In order to regulate a fundamental right the cases argument must be compelling. Any law that infringes upon ones fundamental rights (The right to speech, vote, travel, privacy, and abortion etc) is considered invalid.