Court Visit Paper

Business Law – Court Visit!

Instructions for reporting a civil court session

You must visit a live court session to complete this paper unless you have a condition that physically prevents you from attending. You may attend a courthouse of your choice either closer to your home or work. However, larger courthouses have more cases scheduled daily so if you are near a larger courthouse, such as the one in San Francisco or San Jose, feel I would recommend attending one of those. Otherwise, if you go to a smaller courthouse, just make sure to check the schedule early enough so you won't have to go back to catch a case.

Attend a CIVIL or Small Claims Court Session and do a written report addressing the points below (traffic, probate or family court cases will not be accepted). Your visit to court should only take 30-60 minutes – just collect the info you need then go home and draft your report. Project should be 3-4 pages, double-spaced, and typed.

Information and case schedules can be found on the court’s website. You may visit any courthouse what is located conveniently, but keep in mind that smaller court houses have less cases and you might have to do more than one visit.

Form of Report

1. Name of Court (i.e. Small Claims, Superior Court, etc.)
2. Court Address
3. Name of Plaintiff
4. Name of Defendant
5. Date Attended Court (must be during current semester)
6. Case # (Note: I will be checking to verify you visited a current court case).
7. Facts of Case (i.e. what did you observe in court)
8. What does the plaintiff want the court to do
9. What is the position of the defendant
10. What is the problem (issue)
11. Did the court decide the case?
12. If so, what did the court say about how the case was decided?
13. If not, then how would you decide the case if you were the judge?
14. If the court decided the case, do you agree with the court’s decision? Why or why not?

NOTE: You will be graded on following: the form of the report, providing complete answers, providing examples and referencing the text. Find a minimum of two business law issues that relate what you observed to what we covered in class. You will also be graded on organization, and writing skills including grammar and punctuation.