Civil Procedure Flashcards
Circuit Court Jurisdiction
General jx and have SMJ over all civil actions unless exclusive jurisdiction elsewhere
Appellate Court
Jurisdiction only over final orders of appeal
EXCEPT: Injunctions, PFO, interlocutory order, certified Q
Must file NOA w/in 30 in the lower court
Supreme Court
Exclusive over (1) Governor's vacancy and (2) legislative redistricting Must review order declaring statute unconstitutional
Personal Jurisdiction
(1) IL law must itself grant PJ (consent, presence or LAS) and
(2) Must be constitutional
Three Bases for PJ
(1) Consent - express or implied
(2) Presence (ADD) - Actual physical presence while served; Domicile (true home and intends to return), or Doing business (regular, systematic, continuous)
(3) LAS - LIMIT - specific connection between the act and lawsuit: Land, Injury, Matrimony, Insurance K, Transaction of Business
Constitutionality of Jurisdiction
In addition to either consent, presence or LAS…
D engaged in MINIMUM CONTACTS that would not “offense traditional notions of fairplay and subs. justice”
D must have purposefully availed itself of benefits of IL or targeted consumers
Service of Process
(1) Sheriff or any non-party over 18 serves summons w/in 30 days of issuance
(2) Reasonably calculated to notify of litigation
Publication only allowed if real property and affidavit, mail copy to address and publish for 3 weeks straight
Methods of Service of Individuals (PAW)
Personal Service - hand delivery to D
Abode Service - leave process at D’s abode and leave w/ someone at least 13 yrs old and mail copy
Waiver - P mails complaint to D w/ request to waive
Methods of Service on Entities
Corps and P-ship - personal service on or mail request to waive any authorized or qualified agent
P-ship - if you serve 1 Partner/D personally, can mail to all others if they have IL connection
Venue
Proper in a county where either D resides (domiciled) or any part of COA arose
Venue Exceptions (GRAIL)
Gov’t Units - only sued where principal office located
Real Property - only where land is located
Absent D’s - if no D’s resident in IL, any county
IL Ins. Comp D - P’s residence okay
Lible - country where any D resides and where libel article composed
Motion to Change Venue
Moving party must file affidavit swearing that it fears bias by those inhabitants and 2 supporting affidavits of inhabitants of the county and filed before issue on merits
Forum Non Conveniens
Court Discretion if gross inconvenience to parties or witness
Pleadings
Complaint - IL is liberal fact pleading; must attach instrument if COA based on it; must attach affidavit for Med Mal; must demand trial by jury
Answers - fairly and precisely admit or deny; affirmative defenses must appear on the answer or else waived
Amendments to Pleadings
Liberally granted on just and reasonable terms
Relation Back of CLAIMS - derives from same transaction or occurrence as earlier timely filed claim
Relation Back of Parties - If claim of new party involve same tx or occurrence and new party must have acquired knowledge but for a mistake in name it would have been sued
Joinder
Liberal and permissive
Claims - as many claims against adversary regardless of sameness
Parties - claims involving same tx or occurrence or same series
Im-plead-er
3rd Party - D may implead new claim if 3rd party may be liable (indemnity or contribution)
Interpleader
Holder of a common fund may file lawsuit as a P and interplead all D’s as rival claimants to common fund
Intervention
As of right - non-party if interest will be adversely affected by suit and not protected by parties
Permissive - discretion of the court if commonality of issues
Class Actions (NAACP)
Judge must grant class cert, order notice to apprise all class members and approve of settlement
Numerosity
Adequacy - named party and council must fairly and adequately rep class interest
Appropriateness
Commonality
Predominance - common issues predominate individual issues
Discovery
Must be proper and material sought must be w/in scope of discovery
Auto - $50k or less must disclose bases of claims, witnesses, relevant docs, damages, insurance cov
Deps - can be used on non-party
Rogs
Request to Admit - admitted unless denied under oath w/in 28 days
ONGOING DUTY TO SUPPLEMENT DISCOVERY
Scope of Discovery
Relevant and not privileged
Motion for Directed Verdict
After adversary rests, filed and granted if evidence OVERWHELMINGLY favors the moving party
Motion to JNOV (judgment as matter of law)
After VERDICT, filed if evidence OVERWHELMINGLY favors moving party
Motion for New Trial
(1) Errors at trial affecting parties substantial trial rights
(2) Verdict was merely against manifest weight of evidence
Motion to Vacate a DJ
Judgment against a D who failed to respond to complaint must file w/in30 days of judgment
Relief from a Judgment
Extraordinary remedy for a judgment tainted by fraud or perjury
Must show MEND: Merit, Equity, New Facts, Due Diligence
Finality
Res Judicata - CLAIM fully and fairly litigated to a final judgment on the merits cannot be relitigated
Collateral Estoppel - ISSUE fully and fairly litigated
