Civil Procedure Outline

US. Code is an organized version of U. S. laws

Title 28 covers judiciary

- Every state has at least one court that has general jurisdiction which functions as a catch all
- Some statutes in Title 28 give exclusive or forbid use of federal court\

Default Judgement - Rule 55

Rule 41(a) – dismissal for not following the rules

Petition

The Constitution on Jurisdiction:

1. Article III - establishes the system of federal courts and limits their authority

2. Article IV - The Full Faith & Credit Clause. Requires that one state recognize and enforce the judgments of
another. (But only if 1st court had jurisdiction to make that judgment)

3. Article VI - says that the Constitution & Federal laws are the supreme law of the land. Supremacy Clause. This
means that if there is a federal statute - then all courts have to follow it. However, if there isn’t a federal statute -
then the courts have to follow the state laws.

Steps to Litigation
For Court to have jurisdiction must have:
-Subject Matter Jurisdiction: Whether a court can hear a particular type of dispute

1. General Jurisdiction: the court can hear any kind of claim between any persons unless there is legal
authority saying that they cannot hear a particular kind of case (ie. Wills are generally excluded from
gen. J.)
2. Limited Jurisdiction: can only hear cases authorized by statutes that set up the particular court. Fed.
courts.

3. For federal courts (§1332)(Hawkins v Masters Farms, Inc):

 Domicile- place where person is physically present
 Intent to stay (can only have one state citizenship)
 Have claim of $75,000

Rule 11: is violated if @ the time of signing, the document filed was objectively unreasonable under the
circumstances . . . . can’t be frivolous
11(c): gives the court discretion as to when they can issue sanctions (protects integrity of court)

-Personal Jurisdiction:

-Venue (§1391) (which court in geographical region, exact courthouse):

 -Either Party Resides (D preferred)

-Claim Arose

-D is doing business in the area

-Service

1. Service completed correctly

Pretrial Motions (Rule 12)

In Pre answer motion you don’t have to give answer yet

Possible if you don’t file pre answer motion that you waive it

Rule 12 (b) (motions you can assert)

1. Lack of Subject Matter Jurisdiction

2. Lack of Personal Jurisdiction
3. Improper Venue
4. Insufficient Process
5. Insufficient service of process
6. Failure to state a claim upon which relief can be granted
7. Failure to join a party under Rule 19

Cross Claims

Answer (by D)
Rule 7-9 (Rule 8 (b) gives exact answer to defense answer)

 Admit
 Deny
 Lack of information (Don’t know enough to presume guilt or innocence)

DISCOVERY- $$$$$ (Rule 37)

Can use motion to compel (when parties disagree during discovery)

Privilege outranks relevance except some narrow exceptions

3 reasons to withhold during discovery

 Relevance
 Burdensomeness
 Privilege

Motion for Summary Judgment (Typically D, but not limited to D to file) (Rule 56)
No evidence or genuine issue to material facts

-if there is evidence in conflict motion is defeated

Pretrial Conference
Trial (Rule 38)
 P’s case
 D’s case
 Motions
 Jury
 Verdict

Revised Motions (new trial, Directed Verdict, or both)

Final Judgment

Appeal
Time to bring appeals (must have final judgement rule to get appeal, trial ct compeletly finished)

 Direct review by supreme court

 Injunctions decisions (review of pretrial motions like jx)
 When trial judge ask for help

Reasons to bring appeal

 Findings of fact – “Judge was clearly erroneous (very unlikely to work)”

 Statement of Law – “Judge got law wrong (best chance of working)”
 Discretionary - “Judge messed up in discretion in discovery/privilege or abused discretion (unlikely to
work)”

Petition for Certiorari (Appeal to top court of jurisdiction)

Enforcement of Judgment and Collection

Res Judicata- can’t bring the same action twice

 Claim Preclusion- Can’t bring same claim twice (Rush v City of Maple Heights)
 Issue Preclusion(Collateral Estoppel)

Personal Jurisdiction
In Personam – In person

 Resident of State
 Person is in State

In Rem – Against Property in Jurisdiction

Quasi In Rem – Towards the person using their property to get jx (dirty trick)

Pennoyer v Neff
***You should attach the property at the beginning of the lawsuit! This would have given legit quasi in rem***

 a court may enter a judgment against a non resident only if the person has property in the state. except
for status proceedings - like divorce, adoption, etc.

 OR when the person has agreed to service in the state - like corporations that do business at that time.
CONSENT!

 Before being able to rely on publication for service - there are some hoops you have to jump through first.

 ~14th amendment limits where a D may be required to defend a lawsuit.

 ~injected due process in full faith and credit - state sovereignty

 ~Personal J exists if the D is there or property is there

 ~due process can allow collateral attack and can be fragile enough to ignore too

 State sovereignty is very strong after Pennoyer, this case is about the power of the state to get to you.

 Introduces Consent, Notice, & Power.

***This case doesn’t hold today because it is hard for one state not to affect the others.

Harris v Balk

This case would be decided differently today. Epstein sues in Maryland to get Harris to pay him. Then Balk sues
Harris in North Carolina. Harris’s defense is that he’s already paid his debt to Epstein, such that Balk should get his
money back from Epstein. What must the jurisdictional issues be? North Carolina, the Supreme Court rules, must
enforce the Maryland judgment, because personal jurisdiction was obtained over Balk when Harris entered
Maryland. We’re trying to figure out if debts are a personal obligation or (quasi?? ASK PROF) in rem obligations.
The Court says that the debt travels with the debtor, making the creditor subject to personal jurisdiction wherever
the debtor goes.

Minimum Contacts:

 If there are only minimal contacts between a state and a defendant, then the contacts must be closely related
to the claim.
 For minimum contacts, we must examine the relationship between the claim, the defendant, and the forum.

International Shoe v Washington

Due process requires only that in order to subject a D to a judgement In Personam if he not be present within the
territory of the forum, they have certain minimal contacts w/ if such that the maintenance of the suit does not
offend “traditional notions of fair play and substantial justice”.

Hanson/Mcgee - Unilateral activity = no jurisdiction / Bilateral activity = jurisdiction

Shaffer v. Heitner (Ps sued derivative suit “on behalf of corp.” and filed order of sequestration)
~ct. overruled pennoyer standard and said no presence in Delaware does not matter, it is minimum contacts test
~applied min. contacts test to quasi-in rem J
~Quasi-In rem J can’t use Harris v. Balk; debt alone is not enough for Delaware to get case
~Quasi In rem is dead, and left with some for of In rem AND it applies to corp. not just individuals

World Wide Volkswagon Corp v Woodson

Asahi Metal Industry Co. v. Superior Court – Asahi is the case that makes the five factor test law. In World-Wide, it’s

only dicta.

The five fair play factors

1. Burden on the defendant – burdens on corporate defendants tend to be diluted as compared to burdens on
individual defendants.
2. The state’s interest – what interests does the forum have in having that litigation in that state as far as
protecting its citizens and corporations?
3. The plaintiff’s interest – everyone would prefer to sue in their own forum.
4. Interstate efficiency interest – is this forum better, more efficient, more expedient, or cheaper than any other
forum? It is rare that jurisdiction in a case turns on efficiency, because it can usually be argued both ways.
5. Interstate policy interest – this would be a stretch. The Courts of Appeals these days tend to lump this and
efficiency together.