MEE Rule Statements

Question 1

Discovery is generally permitted with regard to

Answer 1

any non-privileged matter relevant to any party’s claim or defense in the action .

Question 2

Information within the scope of discovery need not be…

Answer 2

admissible in evidence to be discoverable.

Question 3

The test is whether the information sought is

Answer 3

relevant to any party’s claim or defense.

Question 4

In general, a party may not discover

Answer 4

documents and tangible things that are prepared in anticipation of litigation or for trial by or for another party or its representative.

Question 5

Materials will be subject to discovery if the party shows

Answer 5

that it has substantial need for the materials to prepare its case and cannot, without undue hardship, obtain their substantial equivalent by other means.

Question 6

A party may request the other party to product and permit the inspection of any

Answer 6

discoverable documents or electronically stored information

Question 7

Spoilation of evidence is the

Answer 7

negligent or intentional destruction or significant alteration of evidence required for discovery.

Question 8

When litigation is reasonably anticipated, even if it has not yet been commenced,

Answer 8

potential litigants in possession of potentially relevant evidence have a duty to preserve such evidence.

Question 9

Once a duty to preserve evidence is triggered, the party in possession

Answer 9

of the evidence must take reasonable measures to preserve it.

Question 10

If a party has a policy in place that results in routine operations that may destroy evidence, such as electronically stored information, that party must

Answer 10

affirmatively act to prevent the destruction or alteration of such evidence, even if the destruction would typically occur in the regular course of business.

Question 11

A party may be subject to sanctions for

Answer 11

failing to take reasonable steps to preserve electronically stored information that should have been preserved in the anticipation or conduct of litigation.

Question 12

Sanctions are authorized for spoliation of evidence only if the

Answer 12

information cannot be restored or replaced by additional discovery.

Question 13

In determining sanctions, the court should consider

Answer 13

the prejudice to the other party and the intent of the party that failed to preserve the evidence.

Question 14

When retrieval of the information is possible, even if typically considered inaccessible due to cost of a retrieval, a court may

Answer 14

order it and assign the costs to the party who destroyed the evidence; no further sanctions may be imposed.

Question 15

If a party failed to preserve electronically stored information that should have been preserved and it cannot be restored or replaced,

Answer 15

the court may order alternate sanctions against the wrongful party, limited to the court’s discretion of those necessary to cure any prejudice to the other party.

Question 16

if the court finds that the sanctioned party acted with the purpose of depriving the other party of the evidence’s use in litigation, then available sanctions include:

Answer 16

1. a presumption that the destroyed or lost information was unfavorable to the sanctioned party
2. a jury instruction that it may or it must presume the information was unfavorable to the party,
3. an entry of default judgement against the party.

Question 17

Generally, the defendant in any civil action filed in state court has the right to remove it to

Answer 17

the district court for the district in which the state court action was filed as long as the civil action is within original jurisdiction of a US district court.

Question 18

federal courts may exercise original diversity jurisdictions over actions when

Answer 18

1) the parties to an action are citizens of different states AND
2) the amount in controversy in the action exceeds $75,000.

Question 19

Generally, a plaintiff’s good-faith assertion in the complaint that the action satisfies the amount in controversy requirement…

Answer 19

is sufficient unless it appears to a legal certainty that the plaintiff cannot recover the amount alleged

Question 20

for the convenience of the parties and in the interests of justice, a district court may transfer any civil action to

Answer 20

any other district or division where it might have been brought.

Question 21

venue is proper in a judicial district in which

Answer 21

any defendant resides or in a judicial district in which a substantial part of the events or omissions on which the claim is based occurred.

Question 22

when transfer is sought on the basis of a forum selection clause in a contract, the clause is

Answer 22

accorded respect

Question 23

If a forum clause specifies a federal forum, most circuit courts treat the clause as

Answer 23

prima facie valid, to be set aside only upon a strong showing that transfer would be unreasonable and unjust or that the clause was invalid for reasons such as fraud or overreaching.

Question 24

A forum selection clause should be given

Answer 24

controlling weight in all but the most exceptional cases even if the clause is unenforceable under applicable state law

Question 25

if venue of an action is transferred when the original venue is proper, the court to which the action is transferred must apply

Answer 25

the law of the state of the transferor court, including that state’s rules regarding conflict of law.

Question 26

when venue is transferred based on a valid forum selection clause, the transferee court must apply the law…

Answer 26

including choice of law rules, of the state in which it is located.

Question 27

the transferee court should not apply the law of the transferor court because the parties have contractually waived their right to

Answer 27

the application of that law by agreeing to be subject to the laws of the transferee venue.

Question 28

the doctrine of claim preclusion provides that

Answer 28

a final judgement on the merits of an action precludes the parties from successive litigation of an identical claim in a subsequent action.

Question 29

for claim preclusion to apply, the claimant and the defendant must be

Answer 29

the same AND in the same roles in both the ORIGINAL action and the SUBSEQUENTLY filed action.

Question 30

Application of claim preclusion is limited to

Answer 30

the parties or their privies, so a similar action by a different party is not precluded.

Question 31

the doctrine of issue preclusion (collateral estoppel) precludes

Answer 31

the relitigation of issues of fact or law that have already been necessarily determined by a judge or jury as part of an earlier claim.

Question 32

unlike claim preclusion, issue preclusion does not require

Answer 32

strict mutuality of parties, bur only that the party against whom the issue is to be precluded (or one in privity with that party) must have been a party to the original action.

Question 33

other elements necessary for issue preclusion to apply are that:

Answer 33

1. the issue sought to be precluded must be the same as that involved in the prior action
2. the issue must have actually been litigated in the prior action
3. the issue must have been determined by a valid and binding judgement AND
4. the determination of the issue must have been essential to the prior judgement.