Civil Procedure Rules (from missed questions) Flashcards
Abuse of Discretion
lower court makes a discretionary ruling whether to admit or exclude evidence that is absurd or arbitrary
Harmless Error Rule
Harmless errors include technical errors that have no bearing on the outcome of the trial, and an error that was corrected
A “notice of appeal” must be filed with who and by what deadline?
Filed with the district court clerk within 30 days after entry of judgment or order appealed from
Final Judgments may be appealed
Physical and Mental Examinations (Rule 35)
may be rendered only against parties of those under a party’c control
Relation Back Doctrine
the amended claim “relates back” to the date of the original pleading only if it arises out of the same transaction/occurrence as the original claim
Aggregation of Claims
Separate claims 2 or more plaintiffs cannot be aggregated in order to satisfy the $$ requirement but multiple claims from one plaintiff can be aggregated to reach $$$ requirement
Impleader (3rd Party Complaint)
Must file within __ days of the answer or else will need to request leave of court
A defending party may serve a summons/complaint on a non-party who is or may be liable for all or part of the claim against that 3rd party plaintiff
14
Erie Doctrine
If a federal procedure law is on point then you ___ ____ that.
Federal court must follow the conflict of laws of the state in which the federal court sits
MUST FOLLOW
Waiver of Summons/Complaint
When the Plaintiff files a waiver; proof of service is not required (it is as if a summons/complaint was served at the time of filing the waiver)
Additional witnesses may be called only if court modifies the pretrial order
Interlocutory Orders denying injunctions may be appealed in federal court
In a “Common Question” Class Action, ____ to all members is required.
Notice
JNOV (judgment notwithstanding the verdict)
Same as JMOL
A party must have previously moved for a directed verdict @ some time during the trial
“Minimum Contacts”
Personal Jurisdiction; few contacts will suffice if those contacts are directly related to the cause of action
Venue
In a judicial district where any Defendant resides, if all the Defendants reside in the same state or where the event giving rise to the claim occurred or where there is personal jurisdiction on any Ds
Deposition of a witness may be used even if the witness is unavailable
Interrogatory
A party can send up to __ interrogatories
Is a list of questions that one party sends to another as part of the discovery process
50
Service of Process
Must be served with process within __ days
If a name/address is provided, must serve by ____, if not, then can serve by putting notice in the ______.
method by which the parties in a lawsuit formally deliver papers on the other parties and the court
90
mail; newspaper
Removal
Must be filed within __ days
Diversity Jurisdiction Exception: A defendant can remove from state to federal court no more than __ from the date of commencement of the action
A defendant may remove from state to federal court and notice must be signed by all the defendants and filed in federal court
30
One year
Compulsory Counterclaim
Any claim that arises from the same transaction or occurrence
A U.S. citizen domiciled abroad is NOT a citizen of any state and is NOT an alien
Class Action in Diversity Jurisdiction
Citizenship of named representatives is used to determine citizenship
What type of cases have are in the federal court’s exclusive jurisdiction?
Patent, Copyright, and Bankruptcy Cases
Cases within Federal Courts/State Courts Concurrent Jurisdiction
All other cases
Removal in federal question jurisdiction –> diversity does NOT matter