LSU BLAW 3201 Business Law detailed
Class notes for Exam 1|2026 new update
Louisiana State University
The federal courts
● Louisiana sits in the federal 5th circuit of appeals
● Appelat courts don’t ever listen to new testimony
o No new testimony
o No new fact finidng
o What they do is order the record from the lower court, review
testimony that was given,
o Don’t take any new evidence at the pellet level
▪ Looking strictly at what happened from a procedural
level
● Note: federal judges are apt. for life
The Supreme Court
● 9 preside at the supreme court level
● in order to have a case heard by the supreme court you have to fill
out an application and apply
● the nations highest court, whose principal function is to review
decisions of the Federal Courts of Appeals and the highest State
courts
● there are a number of different styles of opinions coming out of the
united states supreme court
o 4 different types of opinions
▪ unanimaous decision- 9 justices out of 9 justices all
agreed with the outcome and reasoning of the decision
▪ majority opinion- 5,6,7,8 justices who agree with the
decision
▪ plurality decision- have a majority of the justices who
agree with the outcome, but they don’t agree with how
you get there
there is a difference amongst the agreement vs. the
outcome of the reasoning
▪ concurring decision- written by a justice who feels the
need to write his/her own opinion about the decision of
the case
, ▪ dissenting decision- I disagree with what the majority
has just decided and I want to write it down and say
why I believe they were wrong
state courts
● Inferior Trial Courts- hear minor criminal cases, such as traffic
offenses, and civil cases involving small amounts of money; conduct
preliminary hearings in more serious criminal cases
o Small claims courts, city courts, justice of the peace courts
● Trial Courts- have general jurisdiction over civil and criminal cases
Jurisdiction
● Jurisdiction- means the power or authority of a court to hear and
decide a given case
o Goes to the heart of whether or not a particular court has the
authority to decide a case that involves you
▪ If the court doesn’t have the authority then you are
dismissed and you are fee based on the fact that there
is no jurisdiction
● Subject Matter Jurisdiction- authority of a court to decide a
particular kind of case
o The court has to have subject matter jurisdicition Always
▪ Example: someone has more debt than assets, insolvent
cash flow, they will never be able to get fit with
creditors and they file for bankruptcy,
Attourney files paper work with 19th district court
for bankruptcy
The 19th district court kicks the case out because
they don’t have jurisdiction, every court must
have the authority to hear the case brought
before it
o Exclusive Federal Jurisdiction- Federal courts have sole
jurisdiction over Federal crimes, bankruptcy, antitrust, patent,
trademark, copyright, and other specified cases
o State jurisdiction- state courts have exclusive jurisdiction over
all matters to which the Federal judicial power does not reach
▪ If we don’t have a federal judge to preside over a
particular matter, then it will be left for a state court to
preside over
, o Concurrent- meaning existing at the same time
o (KNOW THESE ON EXAM)
▪ Federal question cases
You have the right to bring the case to federal
court
We don’t care how much this case is worth
▪ Diversity of citizenship when we have a large enough
case in terms of dollar amounts
Diversity amongst citizens
● If you have a plaintiff- LA
● And defendant from Texas
● Then you have two individuals who are
diverse in their citizenship and you have a
case based on they aren’t from the same
place provided they meet the threshold of
greater than 75,000 dollars
● Don’t always have to be human beings can
be a company, corporation, partnership
● If you have a business as the plantiff you
have to look at the following and prove
diversity:
o Articles- articles of corporation (where
their citizenship is)
o PPB- principal place of business
( where they conduct their business)
● Amount in controversy
o Threshold is in the amount of greater
than 75,000 dollars
On Exam:
Expect to have multiple defendants, and multiple plaintiffs and you being
able to determine if diversity is present.
Class notes for Exam 1|2026 new update
Louisiana State University
The federal courts
● Louisiana sits in the federal 5th circuit of appeals
● Appelat courts don’t ever listen to new testimony
o No new testimony
o No new fact finidng
o What they do is order the record from the lower court, review
testimony that was given,
o Don’t take any new evidence at the pellet level
▪ Looking strictly at what happened from a procedural
level
● Note: federal judges are apt. for life
The Supreme Court
● 9 preside at the supreme court level
● in order to have a case heard by the supreme court you have to fill
out an application and apply
● the nations highest court, whose principal function is to review
decisions of the Federal Courts of Appeals and the highest State
courts
● there are a number of different styles of opinions coming out of the
united states supreme court
o 4 different types of opinions
▪ unanimaous decision- 9 justices out of 9 justices all
agreed with the outcome and reasoning of the decision
▪ majority opinion- 5,6,7,8 justices who agree with the
decision
▪ plurality decision- have a majority of the justices who
agree with the outcome, but they don’t agree with how
you get there
there is a difference amongst the agreement vs. the
outcome of the reasoning
▪ concurring decision- written by a justice who feels the
need to write his/her own opinion about the decision of
the case
, ▪ dissenting decision- I disagree with what the majority
has just decided and I want to write it down and say
why I believe they were wrong
state courts
● Inferior Trial Courts- hear minor criminal cases, such as traffic
offenses, and civil cases involving small amounts of money; conduct
preliminary hearings in more serious criminal cases
o Small claims courts, city courts, justice of the peace courts
● Trial Courts- have general jurisdiction over civil and criminal cases
Jurisdiction
● Jurisdiction- means the power or authority of a court to hear and
decide a given case
o Goes to the heart of whether or not a particular court has the
authority to decide a case that involves you
▪ If the court doesn’t have the authority then you are
dismissed and you are fee based on the fact that there
is no jurisdiction
● Subject Matter Jurisdiction- authority of a court to decide a
particular kind of case
o The court has to have subject matter jurisdicition Always
▪ Example: someone has more debt than assets, insolvent
cash flow, they will never be able to get fit with
creditors and they file for bankruptcy,
Attourney files paper work with 19th district court
for bankruptcy
The 19th district court kicks the case out because
they don’t have jurisdiction, every court must
have the authority to hear the case brought
before it
o Exclusive Federal Jurisdiction- Federal courts have sole
jurisdiction over Federal crimes, bankruptcy, antitrust, patent,
trademark, copyright, and other specified cases
o State jurisdiction- state courts have exclusive jurisdiction over
all matters to which the Federal judicial power does not reach
▪ If we don’t have a federal judge to preside over a
particular matter, then it will be left for a state court to
preside over
, o Concurrent- meaning existing at the same time
o (KNOW THESE ON EXAM)
▪ Federal question cases
You have the right to bring the case to federal
court
We don’t care how much this case is worth
▪ Diversity of citizenship when we have a large enough
case in terms of dollar amounts
Diversity amongst citizens
● If you have a plaintiff- LA
● And defendant from Texas
● Then you have two individuals who are
diverse in their citizenship and you have a
case based on they aren’t from the same
place provided they meet the threshold of
greater than 75,000 dollars
● Don’t always have to be human beings can
be a company, corporation, partnership
● If you have a business as the plantiff you
have to look at the following and prove
diversity:
o Articles- articles of corporation (where
their citizenship is)
o PPB- principal place of business
( where they conduct their business)
● Amount in controversy
o Threshold is in the amount of greater
than 75,000 dollars
On Exam:
Expect to have multiple defendants, and multiple plaintiffs and you being
able to determine if diversity is present.
