Civil Procedure Flashcards
If the court is NOT sitting in diversity and is thus exercising FQJ, ___ law will apply, and there is no need to examine applicable ___ state law.
federal; state
Terminology r/t claim preclusion
Bar - a losing plaintiff cannot re-sue a winning defendant on the same cause of action
Merger - a winning plaintiff cannot re-sue a losing defendant on the same cause of action
In a federal diversity action a court must look to the choice-of-law rules of…
The state in which it sits to determine which of two competing states’ laws should be applied.
[If suit is filed in State B based on diversity for a negligence case, the federal court should determine which state’s negligence law a state court in State B would apply and apply that law in the action.]
In cases governed by Erie…
the court does not simply apply forum law but will instead apply whatever law would be applied by the courts of the state in which the district court is sitting.
Federal venue in civil actions is proper in
(i) the district where any defendant resides, if all defendants are residents of the state in which the district is located; and (ii) the district in which a substantial part of the events or omissions giving rise to the claim occurred.
If there is no district anywhere in the United States that satisfies (i) or (ii), the action may be brought in a judicial district in which any defendant is subject to the court’s personal jurisdiction with respect to such action.
A party may use supplemental jurisdiction to have his claim heard in federal court if the claim:
meets the common nucleus of operative fact test, UNLESS the claim:
1) is asserted by a plaintiff;
2) in a diversity case; and
3) is asserted against a citizen of the same state as the plaintiff.
And supp juris cannot be used to overcome the complete diversity requirement.
If the fed ct has diversity jurisdiction over the claim of 1 P, it will have supplemental jurisdiction over another P’s claim if:
(i) it is so related to the first P’s claim that it forms part of the same case or controversy; and
(ii) the additional P is not a citizen of the state of any of the defendants.
Standard for a motion for summary judgment
SJ must be granted by the ct if, from the pleadings, affidavits, and discovery materials, it appears that there is no genuine dispute of material fact and the moving party is entitled to judgement as a matter of law.
If the moving party submits an affidavit in support of the motion for SJ, the nonmoving party must counter that affidavit with his own evidence from affidavits, discovery, etc. on the matter.
Claim Preclusion (aka Res Judicata)
For claim preclusion to apply:
(i) there must have been a valid, final judgment on the merits;
(ii) both parties must be the same (or be in privity with a party in the prior suit); and
(iii) the new action must involve the same cause of action, meaning that it must arise out of the same transaction or occurrence.
Issue Preclusion (aka Collateral Estoppel)
For issue preclusion to apply:
(i) the issues in both actions must be the same;
(ii) there must have been a final judgment as to that issue;
(iii) the party against whom issue preclusion is asserted must have had a fair opportunity to be heard on the matter; and
(iv) the posture of the case must be such that it would not be unfair or inequitable to apply issue preclusion.
[Judgements by settlement do not have issue preclusive effect because settlements typically do not contain admissions and do not involve an actual judgment on the issue.]
_____ common law governs the claim-preclusive effect of a dismissal by a federal court sitting in diversity.
Federal.
In a preclusion case, where the first case was decided in federal court and the second case is filed in a different jurisdiction, a federal court sitting in diversity will apply federal preclusion laws.
Under federal common law, a diversity judgment should have whatever preclusive effect that similar judgment issued by the state court in which the diversity court sits would have. Thus, the second state court must apply federal
common law to determine how and whether it is bound by the prior diversity judgment.
Timeline for Motion for Summary Judgment
The motion can be filed up to 30 days after the close of discovery. Typically filed before trial.
Standard/Grounds for New Trial
Generally, a new trial may be granted in the court’s discretion (i) because of some serious error or misconduct at trial which substantially affected a party’s rights (which can take several forms); or (ii) if the verdict was against the manifest weight of the evidence.
However, a judge may not replace a reasonable jury verdict with the verdict he would have reached.
Specific Grounds:
a) Error at trial that makes judgement unfair;
b) New evidence surfaced that could not be obtained with due diligence for the original trial;
c) Prejudicial misconduct of a party, attorney, third-party, or juror (incl juror bias and nondisclosure of material info);
d) Judgment was against the weight of evidence; OR
e) Verdict was excessive or inadequate
Timeline for Interrogatories
Within 14 days of the initial scheduling conference required at the start of any federal lawsuit, parties must submit their initial disclosures and proposed discovery plan. The defendant may object to the interrogatories because they were served before the initial preconference and discussion of discovery.
Preclusion Choice of Law
When deciding which jurisdiction’s preclusion law applies, courts will apply the preclusion law of the forum whose court rendered the earlier judgment. If the earlier judgment was rendered by a state court, that state preclusion law
applies, under the Full Faith and Credit Clause. If the earlier judgment was rendered by a federal court that had federal question jurisdiction, federal preclusion law applies. If the earlier judgment was rendered by a federal court
having diversity jurisdiction, federal preclusion law applies, BUT federal law calls for applying the preclusion law of the state in which the federal court sits.
