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Legal Profession & Ct Org.

Legal Profession

  1. Legal Ed.
    1. Euro. Charact's
      1. Sys. approach by following codes & test @ end 2 integ. sys. approach
      2. Classes & big lec's
      3. Apprenticeship
        1. Germ.
          1. Uniform
          2. Do it 4 all branches of law 4 2 yrs after state exam
        2. France
          1. Diversified
          2. Choose branch after 2 yrs. 2 follow spec. career track
          3. Avocat
            1. Four yrs. of school w/exam
            2. Entry exam 4 spec. school then take another exam
            3. Ask an atty 2 supervise
          4. Judge
            1. Dec. a ct. then take entrance exam where 10% pass
            2. Judge v. adm'or judge go 2 dif. school
            3. Pass exam & B jr. judge / prosec'or
    2. US Charact's
      1. Seamless web & taught essential parts of law w/o sys.
      2. Uniform ed. from law school
      3. Diversified ed. b/c indiv. choose apprenticeship
  2. Org. of Legal Profession
    1. England
      1. Barrister prosec., prep. & arg's 2 ct.
      2. Solicitor sees client & arg. only in smaller cts
    2. US
      1. Dif. adm. 4 fed. & each states
      2. Can become judge after pract'ing & have polit. ties
    3. France
      1. Avocat & Avoue
        1. Avocat talked 2 client, arg's in ct., etc.
        2. Avoue only in app. level & only do paper work
      2. Spec'ed bar 4 avocat 4 highest app. ct. / Ct de Cassation
      3. Unitary sys. so can arg. in any ct once atty
    4. Germ.
      1. Restrict pract. only 2 1 locality 4 civil side
        1. Apply 2 Minister of Justice 2 pract. 4 higher trial civil ct 4 1 town
        2. Some states also restrict 2 either trial / app. & app. 2 1 town
      2. Spec. bar 4 spec'ed field
      3. Career judge
        1. Go through 2nd exam 2 B probationary judge 4 5 yrs.
        2. Minister of justice appt's judges
        3. Minister of interior appt's adm. judges
        4. To become upper judge, apply
  3. Legal Fees & Aid
    1. Dec'ing Atty's Fee
      1. US
        1. Conting. fee 4 P's atty
        2. Agmt on fees 4 clients
      2. France
        1. Fixed stt. rate 4 avocat but not avoue
      3. Germ.
        1. Stt. fee sched. that's higher 4 small cases & lwr 4 bigger case
        2. Atty charged 4
          1. Filing
          2. Oral arg's
          3. Taking evid.
        3. Can K 4 higher fee but not lwr
        4. Conting. fees R illegal & immoral
    2. Legal Aid
      1. US
        1. Legal aid where $ 2 states 4 appt'ed neighbor atty
        2. Only country w/PD 4 crim.
      2. Germ.
        1. Aids whether rich / poor but must meet merits & means test
      3. France
        1. No fee sched. 4 highest avoue
        2. According 2 amt in controv. but if income more than cert. amt, no aid
    3. Winning Party Recov. From Loser
      1. US
        1. Winners gen'ly can't
        2. But lose nothing 4 conting. fee cases if lose
      2. Euro.
        1. Loser pays all so there's legal ins.
        2. Legal ins. not cov. intentional crime, etc.

Ct Org. & Jxn

  1. Org. of Ct's
    1. France
      1. Lwr cts appeal 2 same level of app. ct.
        1. Civil & crim.
        2. Civil is div'ed into civil, commerce, labor, soc. sec., & agriculture
      2. Spec'ed cts 4 adm.
        1. Judges must B from adm'or
        2. Sep. of pwr
      3. Highest app. ct. is Cour de Cassation
    2. Germ.
      1. Each ct has own app. cts
        1. Civil crim., labor, adm., soc'al, tax 4 lwr cts R state level
        2. State app. then fed. app. cts
      2. Spec. ct 4 adm.
      3. Fed. Const'al Ct @ top
      4. Trial de novo 4 app. cts
      5. Const'al cts
        1. In state & fed., judges appt'ed so not career judges
      6. Not full fed. structure
    3. Euro v. US Cts
      1. US cts have gen. exp.
      2. Euro cts have expertise so start 2 move away from central civil law
      3. Civil cts give more opinion b/c no precedents
  2. Ct's Pwrs
    1. Interp'ing UnConst'ality of Stt.
      1. US
        1. Trial ct would say unConst'al & let parties appeal
      2. Eng.
        1. Apply stt. b/c no written Const.
      3. France
        1. If promulgate stt., then Const'al
          1. Can't change by ct.
          2. Euro. Ct. on Human Rts can rev. dec's but very hard
        2. If stt. passed but not yet signed, leg. can ask 4 advisory opinion
        3. Could rev. decree which is from exec. side
      4. Germ.
        1. Const'al ct. review it & dec. unConst'al
          1. Case referred by lwr judge
          2. Ord. certiorari appeal 2 app. ct.
          3. Advisory opinion by govt's req.
  3. Pers'al Jxn
    1. Static v. Dynamic
      1. Civil law only look @ civ pro code so static
      2. C /L look @ ct's phys'al pwr & jxn so fn'al & dynamic
    2. Ct's Pwr 2 Dec.
      1. C /L Pers'al Jxn
        1. Domicile w/in ct's jxn
        2. Min. contact w/long arm stt.
        3. Modernly recog. K 4 each other's jxn
      2. Civil
        1. Domicile
          1. Res, domicile, & nationality 4 D but not need 2 have lived there
          2. In France, domicile of P is suff.
          3. For legal entities, more than min. contact b/c want domicile but could B branch office
        2. Corrugation / consent
        3. In rem
          1. Could have strained arg. 4 outside Euro.
    3. Enforcing For. Jgmt
      1. Good faith & credit cl.
      2. Euro. convention
        1. Enforce each other's jgmt w/o going seeing if fair trial given except in extraord. cases
        2. Guideline on stand. jxn so can't have exorbitant in rem jxn 4 agreed countries but nat'l laws apply 2 outside world

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Ms. Haeji Hong

10/26/1997