Post-trial procedure Flashcards
Alteration of or relief from judgment
A court can relieve party of final judgment no later than one year following judgment entry for mistake, inadvertence, surprise, excusable neglect, newly discovered evidence (not previously discovered through reasonable diligence), fraud, misrepresentation, or misconduct by opposing party
Appeals
If more than one claim is presented in case, or there are multiple parties, a district court may direct entry of a final judgment as to one or more issues/parties, but only if the court expressly determines that there is no just reason for delay
Full faith and credit
If valid judgment is rendered by a court that has JX over the parties, and parties receive proper notice of the action and a reasonable opportunity to be heard, judgment will receive the same effect in other states as state where it was rendered
Claim preclusion (res judicata)
- Valid final judgment on the merits—court must have PJ and SMJ, D must have had proper notice and opportunity to be heard, court must have nothing further to do but order entry of judgment, and decision must be made on merits of claim/defense (rather than technical grounds)
- Sufficiently identical causes of action—original and later-filed c/a must be sufficiently identical to be barred under claim preclusion (federal “transactional” approach)
- Sufficiently identical parties—P and D must be the same, and in the same roles, in both the original action and subsequently filed action
Issue preclusion (collateral estoppel)
“Offensive” use may be permitted
- Same issue—facts relevant to particular issue and applicable law must be identical
- Final, valid judgment—first determination of issue was within authority of court that decided it and the determination was made in final decision on the merits
- Essential to judgment—issue that constitutes a necessary component of the decision reached will be considered essential
