Federal Civil Procedure

Question 1

Federal courts have original subject matter jurisdiction over…

Answer 1

federal question claims that assert federal law as the basis for the claim and relief sought.

Question 2

Limited Liability companies’ citizenship is determined by

FED.

Answer 2

the citizenship of each member of the LLC.

Question 3

The supplemental jurisdiction statute allows federal courts that have jurisdiction over a claim to hear another claim if the additional claim…

Answer 3

arises from the same common nucleus of operative facts as the main, jurisdiction-invoking claim.

Question 4

The removal statutes provide only for…

Answer 4

removing a case filed in state court.

Question 5

The only way a case can be sent from federal court to state court is if:

Answer 5

(1) the case originated in state court, (2) had been removed to federal court, and (3) was then remanded because of some defect in the removal process.

Question 6

Under FRCP Rule 12(b)(7), a defending party can move to dismiss for failure to…

Answer 6

join an indispensible party.

Question 7

If a plaintiff has failed to sue a person who is subject to service of process and whose joinder will not deprive the court of SMJ, that person must be joined as a party if:

FED.

Answer 7

(1) in that person’s absense, the court cannot accord complete relief among existing parties, or

(2) That person claims an interest related to the subject of the action and is so situated that disposing of the action in the person’s absense may impair or impede that person to protect the interest, or leave an existing party subject to substantial risk of incurring multiple or inconcistent obligations because of the interest.

Question 8

Under FRCP Rule 12, a motion to dismiss for failure to join an indispensable party is/is not waivable.

Answer 8

is not, and can be raised at any time up until and including the trial.

Question 9

FRCP rule 12 provides that a defending party may, as a third-party plaintiff…

Answer 9

serve a complaint on a non-party who is or may be liable to it for all or part of the claim against it.

Question 10

In diversity cases and cases in which the federal court has supplemental jurisdiction over state-law claims, the Erie doctrine provides that…

Answer 10

federal courts should apply state substantive law.

Question 11

Federal courts are not required to change their procedure or practices for handling cases and trials so long as they do not …

Answer 11

impinge on state substantive law.

Question 12

The amount-in-controversy requirement follows the…

FED test

Answer 12

legal cetainty test.

Question 13

The legal certainty test states that…

FED

Answer 13

a claim will meet the requirements of AiC unless the court can say, to a legal certainty, that the Plaintiff cannot recover more than $75,000, exclusive of interest and cost.

Question 14

To exercise personal jurisdiction over a Defendant, a Federal District Court sitting in Virginia must….

Answer 14

(1) satisfy a ground under the Virginia long-arm statute; and
(2) not violate due process of law.

Question 15

The Virginia Long Arm statute provides that…

Answer 15

if a claim in the suit arises from a number of specified activities, then a court in Virginia can exercise personal jurisdiction over a nonresident Defendant.

Question 16

A few of the specified activites of Virginia’s long-arm statute are…

Answer 16

(1) transacting buisiness in Virginia;
(2) contracting to supply goods or services;
(3) causing tortious injury; and
(4) using a computer network in Virginia.

Question 17

Virginia’s ‘transacting business’ activity requres only…

Answer 17

a single transaction of business.

Question 18

(TRUE/FALSE): A Defendant must come into Virginia to satisfy the enumerated business transaction activity under the LAS.

Answer 18

FALSE.

Question 19

In addition to satisfying the Virginia LAS, to exercise personal jurisdiction, the Federal Court sitting in Virginia must not…

Answer 19

violate the due process clause.

Question 20

The minimum contacts test requires that…

Answer 20

the Defendant have sufficient minimum contacts with forum state that the Defendant could reasonably anticipate being sued in the forum.

Question 21

Purposefully availing oneself of the state puts a Defendant…

Answer 21

on notice of the potential to being sued there.

Question 22

Under the federal general venue statute, venue is proper in a federal district where…

Answer 22

substantial events or a series of events giving rise to the claim arose, or where the Defendant lives.

Question 23

Just because there are more bases for a claim to be heard in one venue than another doesn’t determine…

Answer 23

whether a transfer of venue is appropriate.

Question 24

The determination in transferring venue comes down to whether the district to which the case is being transferred…

FED

Answer 24

would have jurisdiction.

Question 25

The venue statute provides that the action to be transferred…

FED

Answer 25

could have been properly filed in that jurisdiction.

Question 26

Where the Plaintiff files suit in a proper forum, the presumption [of transferring venue] favors…

FED

Answer 26

the Plaintiff’s choice of district.

Question 27

To survive a 12(b)(6) motion to dismiss, a Complaint must contain…

FED

Answer 27

sufficient facts, if accepted as true, that state a claim to relief that is plausible on its face.

Question 28

A court will grant a 12(b)(6) motion if…

FED

Answer 28

the Plaintiff has not set forth factual allegations in support of his claim that would entitle him to relief.

Question 29

Under federal rules, if electronically stored information that should have been preserved in the anticipation or conduct of litigation is lost because a party failed to take reasonable steps to preserve it, the court can….

Answer 29

enter sanctions on behalf of the offending party.

Question 30

Among the sanctions available for spoliation of evidence claims is…

Answer 30

the entry of judgment in favor of the party who is deprived of evidence.

Question 31

If a Plaintiff discovers new evidence after a judgment has been rendered, and the time has passed for a new trial, he should file…

FED

Answer 31

a motion for relief based on newly discovered evidence.

Question 32

A motion for a new trial must be filed in federal court within ….

Answer 32

28 days after the entry of judgment.

Question 33

The relief provided for a successful relief from judgment or order motion may be….

FED

Answer 33

any relief that the court believes to be appropriate based on evidence, and it is not limited to relief requested in the pleadings.

Question 34

The Federal Rules allow a court to order a physical or mental examination by a licensed examiner when the party’s…

Answer 34

mental or physical condition is in controversy.

Question 35

The federal rules allow for deposition testimony of a witness who is….

Answer 35

unavailable.

Question 36

“Unavailable” under the federal rules includes a witness who, at the time of trial, is….

Answer 36

dead, beyond a 100 mile radius from the place of trial, is unable to attend trial because of age, illness, infirmity or imprisonment, and the party offering the deposition could not procure the witness’ testimony by any other means.

Question 37

The point of a pre-trial scheduling order discovery cut-off is to…

Answer 37

preclude further work so close to trial and to allow parties to prepare for the final pretrial conference and for trial.

Question 38

If a party seeks to take a deposition of a party after the discovery cut-off has run, opposing counsel should….

Answer 38

claim prejudice and object due to a violation of the pre-trial scheduling order.

Question 39

The Federal Court determines SMJ at the time of…

Answer 39

a motion for removal.

Question 40

Federal courts have long held that if diversity jurisdiction exists when a case is removed, the Plaintiff’s attempt to reduce the claimed amount below the AiC threshold…..

Answer 40

does not deprive the court of jurisdiction.

Question 41

Under the Federal Rules, if the Defendant files a timely motion to dismiss for lack of personal jurisdiction in the first-filed challenge to the Complaint, then…

Answer 41

the personal jurisdiction defense is preserved.

Question 42

(TRUE/FALSE): In Virginia, choice of law provisions in contracts for the sale of goods will be enforceable so long as the transaction bears a reasonable relationship to the state chosen.

Answer 42

TRUE.

Question 43

In a declaratory judgment action, a federal court must consider, for amount in controversy purposes…

Answer 43

the amount apearing to be the object of the litigation. It must appear to a legal certainty that the claim is for less than the jurisdictional amount to justify dismissal.

Question 44

A federal cout sitting in diversity will apply the choice of law rules of….

Answer 44

the state in which it is sitting.

Question 45

The test for an individual’s domicile, for SMJ purposes, is…

Answer 45

(1) where the individual has a physical residence, and
(2) the intent to make the resident permanent.

Question 46

The general rule precludes a Plaintiff from aggregating the amount of damages from more than one Defendant….

Answer 46

to meet the AiC requirements.

Question 47

An exception exists, to allow for claim aggregation between two or more Defendants when….

Answer 47

they are alleged to have jointly contributed to a single injury, such that they are jointly liable.

Question 48

Courts of appeal have jurisdiction from all….

FED

Answer 48

final decisions of district courts.

Question 49

If a federal court lacks subject matter jurisdiction, the defendant should move for…

Answer 49

dismissal on this grounds.

Not remand – because remand only applies to cases originally filed in state court.

Question 50

A case cannot be removed on diversity jurisdiction after more than…

Answer 50

one year from the date of commencement of the action, unless the Plaintiff acted in bad faith to prevent removal.

(Later served Defendant rule)

Question 51

If there is a change in status of a case, which allows for removal to federal court, a Defendant must file….

Answer 51

a notice of removal within 30 days from receipt of the pleading which shows removability.

Question 52

If one does not amend their complaint after releasing or settling with one of the Defendants, the amount sought from the remaining Defendant will be…

Answer 52

the full amount pled for in the complaint.

Question 53

Under the Federal Rules, a Defendant can preserve any of the highly waivable Rule 12 defenses by….

FED

Answer 53

raising any such defenses in its first defensive filing within 21 days of service on the Defendant.

Question 54

The “highly waivable” Rule 12 defenses are….

Answer 54

1. Personal Jurisdiction;
2. Venue;
3. Insufficient service/process

Question 55

(TRUE/FALSE): A Defendant in federal court can choose to file a motion as his first defensive filing OR an answer.

FED

Answer 55

TRUE.

Question 56

SCOTUS has indicated that the primary ways a company is at home in a state is by…

FED

Answer 56

incorporating there or having its prinicpal place of business there.

Question 57

A court will have specific jurisdiction if, under the International Shoe minimum contacts analysis, the Defendant has….

FED

Answer 57

sufficient minimum contacts with the forum state and the claim in question arises from those minimum contacts.

Question 58

In stream-of-commerce cases, SCOTUS has refused to find specific jurisdiction from….

FED

Answer 58

a manufacturer’s simply placing a product in commerce.

Question 59

Instead of asserting that a a manufacturer has simply placed a product into the stream-of-commerce, a court will have specific PJ over a manufacturer if the Defendant….

Answer 59

had other purposeful conduct directed at the forum that would make it reasonable for the Defendant to have anticipated being sued there on a claim related to its products.

Question 60

One’s citizenship is determined, for diversity jurisdiction purposes, at the time…

FED

Answer 60

the suit is filed.

Question 61

A case that could have originally been filed in federal court must be removed within….

Answer 61

30 days after service on the Defendant.

Question 62

If there is more than one defendant, to remove to federal court, the removing defendant must seek…

Answer 62

the consent of the other defendants.

Question 63

If a case is removed to the wrong federal court, it should be…

Answer 63

transferred.

Question 64

A motion to remand a case on the basis of any defect (other than SMJ) must be made within….

Answer 64

30 days after the filing of the notice of removal.

Question 65

If, after removal, a Plaintiff seeks to join additional defendants whose joinder would destroy SMJ, the court may….

Answer 65

deny joinder or permit joinder and remand.

Question 66

The Certification Rule requires that, in signing a pleading, motion, or other document, a lawyer warrants that:

FED

Answer 66

1. It is not for improper purposes, such as harassment, delay, or to increase the cost of litigation;
2. The claims are warranted by existing law or a nonfrivolous argument to modify/reverse; and
3. The facts are warranted on the evidence.

Question 67

Under the safe harbour sanctions rule, a party cannot simply file a motion for sanctions. Instead, they must….

FED

Answer 67

serve the motion on opposing counsel and give that party 21 days to withdraw the offending pleading.

Question 68

(TRUE/FALSE): If an insurer has paid an entire claim, it is the real party in interest and must sue in its own name.

FED.

Answer 68

TRUE.

Question 69

How many days does a [federal] Defendant have, after being served to serve a third-party complaint on a nonparty?

FED.

Answer 69

14 days.
(after that, D will need to request leave of court)