Construction

1. Is your jurisdiction a common law or civil law jurisdiction?

The United States is a common law jurisdiction. The common law in the United States is comprised of both state specific rulings as well as federal jurisprudence. The federal courts are comprised of the United States district courts, courts of appeal and the U.S. Supreme Court. Each state has its own unique judicial system typically with courts of common jurisdiction, appellate courts and a final appellate court that issues final rulings on state law. As a common law country, the courts in both the federal and state systems rely upon prior rulings when deciding disputes or interpreting statutory language.

The sole exception is Louisiana, which is a civil law jurisdiction. As a result, judges in Louisiana are supposed to rely upon interpretation of the civil code when deciding matters. Louisiana is the only civil law jurisdiction in the United States.