Multiple Parties & Claims Flashcards
When is Permissive Joinder of PARTIES available?
Ps and Ds may join or be joined in one action if any right to relief is asserted jointly, severally, or with respect to or arising out of the same transaction, occurence or series of them and questions of law or fact are common to all Ps or Ds will arise.
What constitutes a necessary party for compulsory joinder of PARTIES?
A party will be considered necessary and required for just adjudication if (1) complete relief can’t be provided to existing parties in absence of that person, or (2) disposition in absence of that person **may impair THEIR ability to protect this interest, or (3) absence of that person would leave existing parties subject to a substantial risk **of multiple or inconsistent obligations.
The court can use the “Bulge” provision to bring in NPs (service 100 miles from court)
When may a non-party intervene in an existing matter
as a right?
A party may intervene as a right if (1) the non-party has interest in the property or transaction that is the subject matter at issue, (2) disposition of the action may impair the non-party’s interest, and (3) the non-party’s interest is not adequately represented by existing parties.
When is a non-party able to claim permissive intervention
in a existing matter?
A non-party is considered to have permissive intervention available if they have a conditional right to intervene under federal law, or their claim/defense and original action share common question of law or fact.
What does an interpleader allow and what are the two types?
An interpleader allows the person holding property (stakeholder) to force ALL potential claimants into a single lawsuit.
There is a federal interpleader RULE (based on FRCP) and a federal statutory impleader.
When may a plaintiff bring parties
in as interpleader?
Any persons with claims that may expose P to multiple liability may be joined as Ds and required to interplead claims though they lack common origin or are adverse and independant rather than identical and P denies liability.
When may a defendant bring parties
in as interpleader?
D’s exposed to simlar liability as P’s may seek interpleader through a crossclaim or counter claim.
Under the Federal Interpleader RULE what are the requirements for SMJ, PJ and Venue?
For DJ, only the stakeholder needs to be diverse from claimants. Claimants do not have to be diverse among themselves. The court will require PJ over claimants in order to join them, standard PJ rules apply. The same goes for venue.
Under the Statutory Interpleader what are the requirements for SMJ, PJ and Venue?
DJ will be met if ANY two adverse claimants are citizens of different states and the property at issue must be $500.00 or more.
In a statutory interpleader, nationwide PJ and service of process is allowed. Additionally, venue will be proper in ANY district where a claimant resides.
When is permissive joinder of additional CLAIMS allowed and how is SMJ satisfied?
A party may join independent or alternative claims of whatever nature against an OP. (single P vs single D)
In a DJ action, the P may aggregate all claims to satisfy the AIC requirement.
In a FQ action, non-federal claims may be joined ONLY if DJ exists or if the claims are part of the same case or controversy as the federal claim so that Supp JD will apply.
What constitutes a compulsory counterclaim
and how is SMJ applied?
At the time of service, a counterclaim is compulsory if it arises out of the same transaction or occurence that is the subject matter of the OP’s claim AND does NOT require adding another party over home the court has no JD.
Since a compulsory counterclaim is only between the original parties, the court will already have SMJ so no need to evaluate independently.
What constitutes a permissive counterclaim
and how is SMJ applied?
Any counterclaim not compulsory will be considered permissive and the party has discretion on whether to bring it in to the existing matter. If the permissive counterclaim brings in addtional parties, then the court must satisfy either DJ or FQ JD as to all new parties.
What constitutes a cross-claim
and how is SMJ, PJ and venue applied?
A cross-claim against a co-party MUST be applied if they arise out of the same transaction or occurence that is subject matter of original action or counterclaim.
Since a cross-claim is only between the parties already joined, the court will already have SMJ so no need to evaluate independently. The same goes for PJ.
If the venue was proper over original claim, the party can NOT object to venue in the cross-claim.
What are the 4 requirements for a representative members of a class to sue or be sued in a class action lawsuit?
Class actions can be maintained in federal court, despite a state law barring class actions to enforce statutory damages claims, if the court can establish the four requirements for representative members of a class to sue or be sued on behalf of all members of the class:
(i) the class must be so numerous that joinder of all members is impracticable (numerosity); (ii) there must be questions of law or fact that are common to the class (commonality); (iii) the claims or defenses of the representatives must be typical of the class (typicality); and (iv) the representatives must fairly and adequately protect the interests of the class (adequacy).
What is required of a Impleader (3rd party claim)?
A third-party claim must be based on some legal theory of derivative liability (e.g., that the third-party defendant has a legal obligation to indemnify the original defendant in the event of the original defendant’s liability).
In other words, it must relate to the “original claim” against the defending party.
