This document is the revised and updated Chapter 3 of Murray and DeSanctis, Legal Writing and Analysis 2d, scheduled for release in March 2015. Legal Writing and Analysis is an introductory text on legal analysis, reasoning, and objective-predictive legal writing designed for first semester students in JD and LL.M. programs. Chapter 3 introduces students to the progress of civil litigation in the American system from complaint to appeal. It goes on to cover state and federal court systems in the United States, and introduces the concept of the hierarchy of judicial authority relating to the doctrine of precedent. Last, it covers the three uses of the term "jurisdiction" in American law, as a place, as power over persons, and as power over subject matter.