Re: American Lawyers

From: jeffrichard68 <richj_at_Svg8kF_FbwhIfZ_pQ2xBSFeeRD5uoVdMcBPdHhZvFNPN84OAHeUkjCNNF0nwn237OYZwCy>
Date: Tue, 20 Jul 2004 17:08:47 -0000

> > FWIW, the US has two parallel
> > systems of courts - the state courts (like California, New York,
> > Texas - each of the fifty states) and the federal courts.
>
> So "federal" in this context means "whole country"?

It means the courts of the federal government. In general, they interpret federal law (the US Constitution and laws passed by Congress) and state courts interpret state law (common law, state constitutions, and laws passed by state legislatures). 95+% of all legal disputes in the US rise under state law. Naturally there are lots of exceptions to this.

Jeff