Legal Question in Business Law in California

Re: Can one sue in state court using Federal Statutes and Case Law ?

Seems like others have answered your question (in the main), but they did neglect one consideration: a claim based upon federal law may result in removal of the state court action to federal court under "federal question" jurisdiction. So even if you can file a lawsuit in state court, you may not be able to keep it there.

Just something to take into account.

Re: Can one sue in state court using Federal Statutes and Case Law ?

If I had a choice, I prefer Federal Court to State Court. Normally you can sue in State Court as long as the Federal Claims are not limited to Federal Court. We would have to know what claims these are.

Re: Can one sue in state court using Federal Statutes and Case Law ?

Breach of contract is always a state law claim. The same case may also involve violations of a federal law, but that has no effect on the nature of the contract claim. It makes no sense to "sue for breach of contract under a federal act of some kind" because there is no federal law against breaching contracts.

If a suit involves only federal claims it must be brought in a federal court. Most claims involving federal statutes can be brought in either state or federal court. When such a case is filed in state court, the defendant will usually have the option of moving (technically, it is called "removing") the case to federal court.

Some federal statutes can only be invoked in federal court, even if the plaintiff also has state-law claims. You can usually prevent this from happening if you only bring claims based upon state law, but if you have additional claims under federal law you should decide whether they are too valuable to waive for the sake of staying in a state court.

Keep in mind that a claim may involve a federal law even if you don't realize it. Not mentioning a federal law in the complaint has nothing to do with whether such a law applies, so you could end up in federal court even if you originally thought your claim involved only state law.

If your claim is against the federal government then you must bring it in a federal court even if it is based upon state law.

Re: Can one sue in state court using Federal Statutes and Case Law ?

Usually, but not if the Federal Statute gives exclusive jurisdiction to the federal courts. It sounds like you need an attorney. You may contact me.

Re: Can one sue in state court using Federal Statutes and Case Law ?

There are really two questions here. The first is whether the state court has jurisdiction. Some cases based upon Federal law MUST be tried in Federal court, e.g. patent matters. Other cases based on Federal law can be tried in either state or Federal court, e.g. personal-injury claims under the Federal Employer Liability Act. So, I guess the first issue you must decide is whether your case belongs in state court in the first place. Federal jurisdiction is exclusive in a wide range of matters where Federal law governs the main issues, but (as with FELA) not all matters.

OK, let's assume your case can be heard in state court. If breach of contract is the main issue, the state court judge will apply the common and statutory law of whatever state the contracting parties intended would apply. If it's a California court, or if the parties either expressly or impliedly chose the law of California, that's what the judge will apply. Once in a while, a case will have jurisdiction in California but the laws of another state will be used to interpret the contract; when this happens, it's because the parties specified that state's law.

There is no Federal contract law per se. There are, however, Federal laws that may have some bearing on contract cases, and a state court judge could refer to and apply those laws to the extent necessary to decide the case, e.g. whether a Federal wages-and-hours law made an employment contract illegal could be considered by a state judge. However, the state law that would ultimately decide the case is: "In this state, we don't enforce contracts that are illegal."

If you need a more specific answer, write me with more facts including the Act that may have been violated.