Joinder & Preclusion Flashcards

Question

What is typicality?

Answer 1

Are the named plaintiff’s claims similar enough (typical of) to the claims of the unnamed party’s claims that they can adequately represent their interests? Arise from the same course of conduct that gave rise to the other class members’ claim and based on the same legal theory.

Answer 2

Is the class counsel adequate? Is the attorney experienced enough to completely handle a class action? DO the named parties have the time, inclination, and ability to prosecute the suit?

Answer 3

Must meet ALL requirements of 23a and then try to establish ONE of the 23b options Parties often do try for every single 23b option. With preference for 23b1-2 so they don’t have to spend the money to track down class members to ask if they want to opt out.

Answer 4

23b1A - Inconsistent Adjudication • establish class because individual class members would run the risk of inconsistent or varying results. • Not just dissimilar results, but inconsistent/impossible. ○ D order to do X and ordered not to do X. • Hardly ever used. 23b1B - Limited Funds Class • Separate suits would affect another parties claims in ways that would substantially impair or impede their ability to represent their class. ○ Accident involves 50 people and D only has 2 million to pay out related to the accident. § Don’t want the first people to file suit to get the money and then screw the others, so there is a class. 23b2 - Equitable Relief • The party opposing the class has acted on grounds that apply to the entire class and final injunctive relief or corresponding declaratory relief is appropriate respecting the class as a whole. • Often used in civil rights and environmental cases. • Cannot seek monetary damages and throw in injunctive to try to get this class. Must be primary seeking injunctive/declaratory. 23b3 - Predominance and Superiority • Questions of law or fact common to class members predominate over any questions affective only individual members so a class action is superior to other available methods to fairly and efficiently adjudicate the controversy. • Predominance and superiority. ○ Predominance = questions predominate over individual questions. Superiority = Is class action mechanism the superior way to handle this?

Answer 5

23b1-2 classes are mandatory. Class members may NOT opt out. All people that fall into class will be bound. 23b3 class is not mandatory. Individual notice is required to each member of the class that can be found (name/address) through reasonable effort. This notice allows members to opt out. The cost of finding and notifying is on the named plaintiffs, so they will want to avoid it.

Answer 6

Class settlements must be approved by the court - 23e Court is the entity that appoints class counsel 23g Some types of claims have different class action rules that are provided by statues (fair labor standards act)

Answer 7

7th amendment—within the same case (minor) 13a compulsory counterclaim Res Judicata Collateral Estoppel

Answer 8

TERM OF ART. Claim preclusion.

Answer 9

TERM OF ART. Issue preclusion

Answer 10

1. Do res judicata analysis. 2. Full stop. Forget res judicata exists. 3. Do collateral estoppel analysis.

Answer 11

You can’t just keep trying claims over and over until you get a result you like. These doctrines encourage parties to go through the appellate process instead.

Answer 12

When you have both legal and equitable issues in the same suit. If you try equitable things first, it would be bound by preclusion doctrines by the facts already found by the judge. Same is true if jury first — judge would be bound.

Answer 13

1. same claim or cause of action 2. between the same parties or those in privity 3. final judgment 4. “on the merits”

Answer 14

Doesn’t mean what it says in plain English. Add “or a claim that could have been brought/was available — transactionally related things that I knew about at the time and filed to raise.”

Answer 15

Makes no sense. Not the real standard. That makes it seem like the facts have been litigated. There are many situations where claims are precluded due to res judicata and no merits have been discussed at all (examples: 12b6 or default)

Answer 16

A person that is so identified in interest with another that he represents the same legal right, including a mutual or successive relationship to rights in property. Ex: estate relationship, successive owners of property, class action

Answer 17

R18 a party MAY bring different rights/claims to relief (ie. negligence, battery, etc.). However… since same TO and WAS available at the time, it would be precluded in a later suit if not joined.

Answer 18

1. Does not require plaintiff to add all available defendants (R20) but IF plaintiff chooses to add a defendant, the parties need to make sure they raise all available transactionally related claims. 2. Certain claims can only be brought in federal court. If the first suit was in state court, the federal claim is not barred in the second suit, even if it is related to the same TO.

Answer 19

1. First case ends in final judgment 2. same issue was litigated and determined in the first case 3. the issue was essential to the first judgment 4. the right person or party is being precluded

Answer 20

We want to be sure that the judge or jury gave that issue their FULL energy or consideration. If they could have found on multiple grounds, it is not clear that they did, we don’t get to use CE. Be careful of general verdicts (may not provide sufficient information about how a jury ruled)

Answer 21

Majority (federal) would not allow CE