Civil Procedure Flashcards
jury polling
After a verdict is returned, but before the jury is discharged, the court must on a party’s request, or may on its own, poll the jurors individually. If the poll reveals a lack of unanimity or lack of assent by the number of jurors that the parties stipulated to, the court may direct the jury to deliberate further or may order a new trial.
collateral order doctrine
A claim or issue may be immediately appealable if it is too important to wait until the final judgment. Three requirements must be met:
(i) the lower court must have conclusively determined the disputed question;
(ii) the issue must be separate from and collateral to the merits of the main issue of the case; AND
(iii) the issue must be effectively unreviewable on an appeal from the final judgment.
- meant to be used only for extreme cases and so far has only been applied to cases involving matters of immunity and double jeopardy
de novo review
If the issue is a pure question of law, appeals court will decide the issue from scratch (no deference will be given to trial court’s ruling)
clearly erroneous standard
when reviewing the fact-finding of a judge in a bench trial; federal courts must not set aside findings of fact made from the bench unless those findings were clearly erroneous
abuse of discretion standard
when reviewing discretionary rulings by the trial court, such as evidentiary or discovery rulings
highly deferential to the trial court judge’s factfinding ability
final judgment rule
an appeal is allowed only after the trial court has made a final determination on ALL issues involved in the lawsuit
even if a particular issue in a case has been finally determined, the losing party on that issue cannot generally take an immediate appeal
bulge provision
allows for out-of-state service even if the local law does not permit this; when it applies, it allows service anywhere, even across a state boundary, within a 100-mile radius of the federal courthouse where the suit is pending
applies ONLY where out-of-staters will be brought in as ADDITIONAL parties to an ALREADY-PENDING action
analysis of personal jurisdiction for federal courts
federal courts must analyze personal jurisdiction as if it were a state court of the state in which it is located
service of process limits
may be made only within the territorial limits of the state in which the district court sits OR anywhere else permitted by the long-arm of the state where the district court sits
burden of non-movant opposing summary judgment
must either:
(i) point to specific places in the record showing the fact in question is disputed; OR
(ii) demonstrate that the movant will not be able to produce admissible evidence to establish the fact
motion for judgment on the pleadings
essentially the same as 12(b)(6) motion to dismiss, except made AFTER the defendant has filed their answer (motion to dismiss is made BEFORE defendant files their answer)
after defendant files an answer and the pleadings have been completed, either party may then challenge the sufficiency of the pleadings
modification of pretrial order
pretrial order is binding during the rest of litigation unless the court modifies it
a court will only modify to “prevent manifest injustice”