<P> Thirty - five states have adopted rules of civil procedure modeled after the FRCP (including rule numbers). However, in doing so, they had to make some modifications to account for the fact that state courts have broad general jurisdiction while federal courts have relatively limited jurisdiction . </P> <P> New York, Illinois, and California are the most significant states that have not adopted the FRCP . Furthermore, all three states continue to maintain most of their civil procedure laws in the form of codified statutes enacted by the state legislature, as opposed to court rules promulgated by the state supreme court, on the ground that the latter are undemocratic . But certain key portions of their civil procedure laws have been modified by their legislatures to bring them closer to federal civil procedure . </P> <P> Generally, American civil procedure has several notable features, including extensive pretrial discovery, heavy reliance on live testimony obtained at deposition or elicited in front of a jury, and aggressive pretrial "law and motion" practice designed to result in a pretrial disposition (that is, summary judgment) or a settlement . U.S. courts pioneered the concept of the opt - out class action, by which the burden falls on class members to notify the court that they do not wish to be bound by the judgment, as opposed to opt - in class actions, where class members must join into the class . Another unique feature is the so - called American Rule under which parties generally bear their own attorneys' fees (as opposed to the English Rule of "loser pays"), though American legislators and courts have carved out numerous exceptions . </P> <P> Contract law covers obligations established by agreement (express or implied) between private parties . Generally, contract law in transactions involving the sale of goods has become highly standardized nationwide as a result of the widespread adoption of the Uniform Commercial Code . However, there is still significant diversity in the interpretation of other kinds of contracts, depending upon the extent to which a given state has codified its common law of contracts or adopted portions of the Restatement (Second) of Contracts . </P>

A basic purpose of the american legal system is to