Court of Claims, and the U. Court of International Trade. Bankruptcy Courts handle bankruptcy cases. Magistrate Judges handle some District Court matters.
States also usually have courts that handle specific legal matters, e. Parties dissatisfied with a decision of a U. District Court, the U. Court of International Trade may appeal to a U. Court of Appeals. Parties dissatisfied with the decision of the trial court may take their case to the intermediate Court of Appeals. Filing starts when you fill out your papers to start a court action. After you file your papers, you have to wait for the other person to default or answer. Discovery starts 30 days after the other person answers.
This is when you and the other person exchange information and learn about the strengths and weaknesses of your case. Pretrial starts about 90 days before your trial, if you are unable to settle your case,. This is when you get ready for the trial. You must make decisions, like if you need an expert witness, and have settlement conferences with the judge.
Trial Your trial can last 1 day or many months. It depends on how complicated the case is. Post-Trial means after the trial. You can appeal or collect your judgment. You have to know the laws and court procedures. You could lose your rights. Only the State — not another person or agency — can charge you with a criminal violation. To learn more about how criminal cases are processed, see the Criminal Self-Help section of this website.
There are 3 different kinds of criminal cases: infraction, misdemeanors and felonies. An infraction is a minor violation. Some traffic violations are infractions. A misdemeanor is a more serious crime that can be punished by up to 1 year in jail.
Click to learn more about misdemeanors. A felony is the most serious kind of crime. If you are found guilty, you can be sent to state prison or receive the death penalty.
Click to learn more about felonies. Here is a flow chart that shows how criminal cases move through the court system. Both criminal and civil cases can be appealed. If the Appellate Court finds the Superior Court made an error, it can reverse the decision or send it back to the Trial Court for further action. To learn more about appeals, read the information above on Appellate Courts. Here is a flow chart that shows how criminal and civil cases are appealed. So far we've been talking about State courts.
But, there are also Federal courts that handle federal cases that take place in California. The Federal courts are similar in structure to State courts in California. For more information about Federal courts, visit the U.
Courts Federal Judiciary website. There are two levels of Federal courts under the Supreme Court:. The U. District Courts are the Trial Courts of the Federal court system. The District Courts can hear most Federal cases, including civil and criminal cases. There are 94 U. District Courts in the U. Each district includes a United States bankruptcy court.
Some states, like Alaska have only 1 District Court for the whole state. The California Constitution directs the Judicial Council to provide policy guidelines to the courts, make recommendations annually to the Governor and Legislature, and adopt and revise California Rules of Court in the areas of court administration, practice, and procedure. The council performs its constitutional and other functions with the support of its staff.
New judicial members of the council and its committees are selected through a nominating procedure intended to attract applicants from throughout the legal system and to result in a membership that is diverse in experience, gender, ethnic background, and geography. The council has 21 voting members, who include 14 judges appointed by the Chief Justice, 4 attorneys appointed by the State Bar Board of Governors, and 1 member from each house of the Legislature.
The council also has about 11 advisory members, including court executives or administrators, the chair of the council's Trial Court Presiding Judges Advisory Committee, and the president of the California Judges Association.
The council performs most of its work through internal committees and advisory committees and task forces. In addition to the state courts, there are also federal courts that handle federal cases that take place in California. The federal courts are similar in structure to state courts in California. The U. Supreme Court is the highest court in our country.
The district courts can hear most federal cases, including civil and criminal cases. There are 94 federal judicial districts in the United States and its territories.
Each district includes a U. Some states, like Alaska, have only 1 district for the whole state. Others, like California, have several.
There are also 2 special federal trial courts that hear certain kinds of cases from anywhere in the country:. There is also one Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. This court has nationwide jurisdiction to hear appeals in specialized cases, like patent law cases and cases decided by the Court of International Trade and the Court of Federal Claims.
A court of appeals hears appeals from the district courts in its circuit. It can also hear appeals from decisions of federal administrative agencies. Supreme Court has a Chief Justice and 8 associate justices. The Supreme Court can choose a limited number of cases from the cases it is asked to decide. Those cases may begin in the federal or state courts.
And they usually involve important questions about the U. Constitution or federal law. As sovereign entities separate from both the state and federal government, federally recognized tribes may have their own court systems. There are over federally recognized tribes in California and over federally recognized tribes in the United States. Each tribal court exercises the jurisdiction granted to it under the codes and constitution of the particular tribe. Each tribal court has its own rules of practice and procedure and forms.
The kinds of cases heard in tribal court differ from court to court and can change over time. Currently tribal courts in California deal with a wide range of issues including child welfare, guardianship, civil disputes, violation of tribal ordinances and restraining orders.
This is done by asking for an administrative hearing. Administrative law hearings are less formal than courtroom trials.
Administrative law judges run the hearings. They are neutral judicial officers that conduct hearings and settlement conferences. If you do not win, you can ask a superior court to review the hearing decision. This is called a " writ of mandate. Click for a list of agencies and their websites. Some agencies have information about their hearings on their websites. Some California administrative agencies, such as the Department of Motor Vehicles and the Department of Social Services, run their own hearings and have their own procedures.
Skip to main content. Our work spans 12 district courts, 4 juvenile courts, and 2 superior courts. Our core mission is to protect and serve the people who work, live and raise their families in Middlesex County.
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