The Federal Court system was established during America’s formative years with the passing of the Judiciary Act. President George Washington signed this act into law on September 24, 1789. The Judiciary Act defines what federal cases are.

Federal courts are ones of limited jurisdiction, which means they can only hear certain types of cases. For the most part, jurisdiction in the federal system is limited to cases where:

• The United States is a party in the action,
• Cases alleging violations of the U.S. Constitution or federal law,
• Crimes occur on federal property,
• Cases involving interstate commerce or interstate criminal activity,
• Bankruptcy, social security, copyright, patent, Native American rights, immigration or maritime cases,
• Cases involving international trade and foreign treaties, and
• Cases that involve state law, but where the parties reside in different states, and the amount in controversy is more than $75,000.00 (there is no small claims procedure in the federal court system).

In some instances, both the state court and federal will have overlapping jurisdiction, in which case the parties can choose which court should hear the case.