Civil Procedure Flashcards
What 2 types of jurisdictions do federal courts need to hear a case?
subject matter jurisdiction and personal jurisdiction
What are the two required sub-categories of subject matter jurisdiction?
Diversity jurisdiction and federal question jurisdiction
What are the two requirements of diversity jurisdiction
1) complete diversity between parties (plaintiff doesn’t share state with defendant)
2) Amount in controversy must be over $75k
What is the requirement for federal question jurisdiction?
A well-pleaded complaint (complaint must assert a federal question at the beginning of the case)
What are the 4 requirements for a class action lawsuit?
1) The class must be so numerous that joinder of all members is impracticable (numerosity)
2) There must be questions of law or fact that are common to the class (commonality)
3) The claims or defenses of the representatives must be typical of the class (typicality)
4) The representatives must fairly and adequately protect the interests of the class (adequacy)
What are the elements of claim preclusion (res judicata)?
1) parties are the same as the parties in the past action
2) the court had jurisdiciton to render its verdict
3) the past verdict was final and binding
4) the past claim and current claim arise out of the same transaction or occurrence
What are the elements of issue preclusion (collateral estoppel)?
1) Past court issued a valid and final judgment
2) the past and current issue are the same
3) the issue was necessary to the prior case and the court entered a verdict on it
4) the party had ample opportunity to raise the issue in the past case
When is complete diversity not required?
In certain class action suits where there’s more than 100 plaintiffs and the amount in controversy is over $5 million
What is removal?
When a case is moved from state court into federal court (moving from federal court to another federal court is called transfer)
When is removal proper?
When the case could’ve been brought in federal court in the first place
What is aggregation?
When a plaintiff combines multiple cases they have into one case
When is aggregation appropriate for diversity jurisdiction?
A plaintiff can aggregate claims to meet the $75k threshold if they’re all against the same defendant, even if the claims are unrelated.
Multiple plaintiffs cannot aggregate their claims against a single defendant unless it’s a class action.
Who can remove a case to federal court?
Only defendants
What can a plaintiff do if they don’t like the case being removed to federal court?
They can file for a remand, in which case, the federal court would then decide if they have personal and subject matter jurisdiction to hear the case.
Removal is automatic upon the defendant’s filing for it. It’s up to the plaintiff to argue a remand if they want the case back in state court.
What is supplemental jurisdiction?
When a federal court agrees to hear state law cases relate to some federal law cases, so long as those state law cases arise from the nucleus of operative facts as the federal cases.
The state cases are basically tethered onto the federal law cases, and all are raised up to the federal court.
What are the types of personal jurisdiction?
in personam (over a person), in rem (over a property), quasi in rem (over a property but used to have jurisdiction over a person)
When is in personam jurisdiction met?
When there are sufficient minimum contacts between the non-resident defendant and the forum state
Normally, when is venue proper?
1) When the judicial district is where one or all of the defendant(s) reside, so long as the defendants all reside in the same state; or
2) when the judicial district is where a “substantial part of the events or omissions” on which the claim is based occurred, or where a “substantial part of the property” is located
What is the Erie Doctrine?
In a diversity case, if there’s no federal law on the issue, the federal court should use substantive state law
How does supplemental jurisdiction relate to diversity jurisdiction?
Diversity jurisdiction cannot be violated by supplemental jurisdiction. There still must be complete diversity between the parties.
What’s the difference between a compulsory and a permissive counterclaim?
A compulsory counterclaim is one that arises out of the same transaction or occurrence as the opposing party’s claim.
A permissive counterclaim doesn’t arise out of the same transaction or occurrence
What is a counterclaim?
When a defendant sues the plaintiff in retaliation for the plaintiff’s complaint
What’s a cross-claim?
When parties on the same side of a case sue one another (defendant sues co-defendant, plaintiff sues co-plaintiff)
What’s the difference between a compulsory counterclaim by a defendant and one by a plaintiff?
A defendant’s compulsory counterclaim doesn’t need to meet the amount in controversy requirement of diversity, and can therefore be tacked onto the original complaint via supplemental jurisdiction.
A plaintiff’s compulsory counterclaim must still meet the diversity requirements
Can a cross claim qualify for supplemental jurisdiction?
Yes, if it arose out of the same transaction of occurrence as the original complaint.
How does supplemental jurisdiction relate to federal question jurisdiction?
Cases can be supplemented across the board, so long as the additional claims are related to the original federal question case
What are the two central questions when considering whether a court has personal jurisdiction over someone?
1) Has the basis for exercising PJ over an out-of-state defendant been authorized by statute or rule? (is there a long-arm statute giving the court a basis for PJ)
2) Is the particular basis for exercising PJ here permitted by the Constitution’s Due Process Clause?
Can jurisdiction be waived by a party?
Subject matter jurisdiction cannot be waived. Personal jurisdiction can.
If a defendant doesn’t believe the court has personal jurisdiction over them, how should they respond?
Lack of personal jurisdiction must be raised at the first opportunity, otherwise it’s implicitly waived.
What is the difference between general and specific in personam jurisdiction?
general in personam jurisdiction is when the defendant has continuous and systematic contacts with the forum state that are so substantial that the defendant is essentially “at home” (i.e., where a defendant is domiciled)
Specific in personam is when the plaintiff’s claim arises from the defendant’s minimum contacts with the forum state and the exercise of jurisdiction would comply with notions of fair play and substantial justice.
What are the bases for a court to have general in personam jurisdiction over a defendant?
1) Consent: defendant consents to case being heard in that state
2) Physical Presence: defendant was served while physically present in forum state (can’t be gotten with fraud/force)
3) Domicile: defendant is domiciled in forum state
4) Corporations: for corporations, if the corporation does their principal business in the state and is headquartered there
What is a long arm statute?
A statute that gives a state court in personam jurisdiction over out-of-state defendants but ONLY for the
particular transactions involving that state.
Do federal courts typically use state or federal long arm statutes?
State. They use the long arm statute of the state in which they sit, unless one of the exceptions applies.
What are the exceptions to the use of state long arm statutes practice?
1) Federal Interpleader Act
2) Unusual Provision
3) Bulge Provision
What is the Federal Interpleader Act?
Federal law that authorized nationwide service of process to establish PJ
What is the bulge provision?
provision in the federal rules that allows for service of process within 100 miles of the courthouse, even if it’s out of state, to establish PJ.
Only happens in two situations: for impleading third party defendants under Rule 14 and for joining necessary third parties under Rule 19
