I. Trial Court - a court that considers a case for the first time
A. Case - a legal dispute before the court
1. Civil Case - an action between private persons to enforce, protect,
or remedy the rights of one of the those persons; heard primarily in superior
court; the case usually involves money
2. Criminal Case - an action by the state to punish an individual
for breaking a criminal law; heard primarily in district court; in this
case the punishment could be time in jail
B. Party - person or persons who bring a dispute to the court or who
defends his or her rights in court
1. Plaintiff - the party who brings a civil action to court
a. In a criminal trial, the prosecutor brings the action to court for
the citizens of a county or state
2. Defendant - the party defending him/herself in court in a civil
or criminal case
C. Lawsuit - a legal action started by a plaintiff against a defendant
based on the argument that the defendant did not do his or her legal duty
and that the defendant's failure resulted in harm to the plaintiff
D. Judge - the person who directs and runs the court proceeding; the
judge decides which law to use in a case
E. Jury - group of citizens chosen to listen to the facts of a particular
case at a trial and decides which party wins by finding facts and applying
the law given to them by the judge
F. Trial - the court process for resolving the issues between parties
1. Jury Trial - a trial in which a jury decides which party wins
the case
2. Bench Trial - a trial before a judge without a jury; the judge
decides which party wins
G. Witness - a person who appears in court to say what he or she saw,
heard, or observed
H. Evidence - a fact, visual or oral, presented in court to support
the parties' arguments
I. Testimony - evidence given by a witness in court
J. Record - a written account of everything that was presented before
the court during a lawsuit
K. Verdict - the jury's formal decision
II. Appellate Court - a court that reviews the decisions of the trial
courts and some state agencies; the court only looks at the record and does
not accept any new evidence
A. Appeal - a request by a losing party to a higher court to review
the lower court's decision because: 1) the judge in the lower court used the
wrong law; or 2) the law the judge used does not apply to the party
1. Appellant - the party who challenges the decision of the court
below
2. Appellee - the party who won the case below and does not want
the lower court's decision to be changed
B. Justice - the title given to judges of U.S. and state supreme courts
C. Term at the Court - a time period of approximately 3 days each
month when the full court (all five of the justices) hears appeals; each side
has 15 minutes to speak
D. Rocket Docket - approximately one day per month, a panel (group)
of three justices hears appeals; the cases heard during Rockets are those
that do not involve any new issues of law; each side has 5 minutes to speak
E. Oral Argument - arguments made by each side to persuade the court
that his or her position is right
F. Judgment - the court's official decision
1. Affirm - to keep the lower court's decision
2. Reverse - to change the lower court's decision
3. Remanded - to send the case back to the original court to correct
a mistake or make additional findings
G. Opinion - a published explanation of why the court decided the
way it did
1. Majority - opinion in which the majority of justices agree with
and join
2. Dissent - opinion of minority of justices that disagrees with
the majority
III. Supreme Court - the highest appellate court; in Vermont, the Vermont
Supreme Court is the only appellate court and, therefore, a party who appeals
a decision of a trial court has his or her case heard by the supreme court
