Civil Procedure Outline – Wilks
Spring 2013
I. Introduction
A. Personal jurisdiction (PJ) – focuses on the defendant (5th & 14th Amendments) – does the court have power over the defendant?
1. Court cannot exercise power over D unless the state in which that court sits has some connection with D or with the event(s) that gave rise to P’s claim.
2. Due process doesn’t “confer” jurisdiction on a court, but rather sets the outer limit of the court’s permissible jurisdictional power.
3. Every PJ issue involves two-step analysis:
a) is there a state statute that authorizes court to exercise PJ under the circumstances of this case?
b) if so, is it constitutional under due process clause to do so?
B. Subject matter jurisdiction (Hawkins) – power of the court to hear the case
1. 28 USC 1331 – District courts have original jurisdiction of all civil actions arising under the Constitution, laws or treaties of the US (a federal question)
2. 28 USC 1332(a) – District courts have original jurisdiction of all civil actions where matter in controversy exceeds $75,000, excluding interest and costs, and is between:
a) citizens of different states (diversity jurisdiction, from Art. III Sec. 1);
b) citizens of a state and citizens of a foreign state (except those foreigners who are lawfully admitted for permanent residence in the US and are domiciled in the same state);
c) citizens of different states and in which foreign citizens are additional parties; and
d) a foreign state.
C. Court must have both personal and subject matter jurisdiction to hear the case and render a valid judgment.
1. Personal jurisdiction – governed by Due Process Clauses (5th & 14th Amendments)
2. Subject matter jurisdiction – governed by Art. III of US Constitution
D. Service of process (Rule 4)
E. Stating the case
1. Complaint – asks the legal system to invoke government power to grant plaintiff relief
2. Response (motions and/or answer)
a) Motions – requests that the court do something (attacks the complaint)
(1) They take position on the truth or falsity of the P’s allegations
b) Responsive pleading (“answer”; Rule 8) – answers the allegations stated in complaint
(1) D denies truth of one or more allegations
(2) D may assert an affirmative defense that wholly or partially defeat a claim (ex – contending that statute of limitations has run)
c) An allegation is admitted if a responsive pleading is required and the allegation is not denied. (Rule 8(b)(6))
3. Amendments to pleadings (Rule 15)
a) Courts allow leave to amend pleadings as a result of discovered facts or other information not known Mcgat the time of the original pleading
F. Parties to the suit
1. Joinder (Rule 19 and 20)
G. Discovery
1. Rules 26-37 and 45 give parties broad powers of investigation
a) Disclosures
b) Interrogatories
c) Depositions
2. Restrictions
a) parties may discover only relevant evidence to a claim or defense
b) requested information may be privileged from disclosure
c) relevant, unprivileged info may be undiscoverable if “annoyance, embarrassment, oppression, or undue burden or expense” outweighs evidentiary value.
H. Pre-trial disposition (summary judgment)
I. ]
J. Trial (judgment notwithstanding the verdict)
K. Res judicata
1. Claim preclusion
2. Issue preclusion
L. Appeals
II. Personal Jurisdiction
A. Basics
1. Legislative – state or territory whose government has the power to make law within its bounds
2. Judicial – power of a court to render a judgment that other courts and government agencies will recognize and enforce
a) Full Faith & Credit clause (Art. IV) – once a court has PJ and SMJ, another state must give full faith and credit to the court and enforce the judgment.
3. Choice of law – which law will the court impose on a dispute?
a) Art. IV – Supremacy clause
(1) If Congress has enacted a valid statute dealing with a subject, both federal and state courts are required to enforce it, regardless of contrary state law or common law rule.
b) Court must also respect both statutory and common law rules in the absence of controlling federal statute.
4. Three types of PJ:
a) in personam → power over the D’s person
(1) gives court power to issue judgment against D personally
(2) ALL of D’s assets may be seized to satisfy judgment
(3) judgment can be sued upon and enforced in other states
b) in rem → power over the D’s property
(1) gives court power to adjudicate a claim about a piece of property
(2) Ex. – an action to quiet title to real estate
(3) Ex. – a divorce action (which divides marital property)
c) quasi in rem → power over the D’s property
(1) gives court power to begin an action by seizing property owned by D (attachment) or a debt owned (garnishment) within forum state
(2) property seized is pretext for the court to decide the case without having PJ over D’s person
(3) any judgment affects only the property seized
(4) the judgment cannot be sued upon or enforced in other states
B. Specific jurisdiction (case-linked jurisdiction)
1. Doctrine of collateral attack
a) In some circumstances, D may attack in a second (collateral) lawsuit a judgment rendered without jurisdiction (as Neff did to recover his land)
b) Only jurisdiction is open to collateral attack. It cannot raise other defenses.
C. Minimum contacts requirement (Intl. Shoe)
1. Parties who conduct activities in a state accept the risk that those activities will give rise to suits and understand that they may have to return to the state where the activity was conducted to defend such suits.
2. Purposeful availment (Hanson v. Denckla) – D must have “purposely avail[ed] itself of the privilege of conducting activities within the forum state, thus invoking the benefits and protections of its laws.”
a) D must have made a deliberate choice to relate to the state in some meaningful way before she can be made to bear the burden of defending there.
b) “Stream of commerce”
(1) In some cases, sending goods into the marketplace, where they can be bought and resold by others in other states, may create contacts sufficient to establish jurisdiction
c) Other factors
(1) Courts can consider other factors (state’s interest in providing redress to its citizens; P’s interest in obtaining relief in convenient forum; extent of the inconvenience to the D) in determining whether the exercise of jurisdiction would comport to fair play and substantial justice.
3. Specific vs. general (in personam) jurisdiction
a) Specific – jurisdiction arises from specific or continuous act(s) within that state.
(1) Depends on the extent of D’s activities in relation to the claim asserted (Int’l Shoe)
(2) Confined to adjudication of issues “deriving from or connected with, the very controversy that establishes jurisdiction.”
b) General – where in-state activities are substantial, D may
ds additional 30 days to respond to summons
(3) Does not waive any objection to jurisdiction or venue
g) Where can you serve?
(1) Rule 4(k)(1)(A) → Service may be made only within state where the court sits
(2) OR, you can reach outside the state if the state courts could as well (ex – borrowing a state’s long-arm statute for a motor vehicle accident)
(3) EXCEPTIONS
(a) Bulge Rule (100-mile Rule) → applies to Ds joined under Rule 14 or 19 as additional parties to a pending suit. Allows service anywhere within a 100-mi. radius of the federal courthouse where the suit is pending.
i) Ex. – Beaumont court reaching into Louisiana to find additional Ds
(b) Nationwide service → suits against federal officials and agencies and suits based on statutory interpleader.
h) Constitutional requirement for notice (Mullane)
(1) Notice must be such that it is “reasonably calculated under all the circumstances to apprise D of the suit.”
(2) Service by publication will almost never be OK (most states don’t allow it because D is very unlikely to receive notice).
i) Opportunity to be heard → commercial transactions
(1) Before a provisional remedy
G. Attacking PJ as a D
1. Three options if court has no PJ:
a) Appear and answer (waiving PJ)
b) Appear/answer and counter PJ (file a 12(b)(2) motion
H. Venue (28 USC §1391) → determines in which federal court to file the suit
1. Purely statutory requirements that further restrict where a suit may be filed (but isn’t it similar to PJ already?)
2. Meant to assure suits are tried in places bearing some sensible relationship to the claims asserted or the parties to the action.
3. Generally, suit may be brought in one of three places:
a) if all defendants are residents of the state in which the district is located, in a judicial district in which any defendant resides;
b) in a judicial district in which a substantial part of the events or omissions giving rise to the claim occurred, or where a substantial part of property that is subject of the action is situated; or,
c) otherwise, in any judicial district in which any defendant is subject to the court’s personal jurisdiction with respect to such action.
I. Transfer (28 USC §1404, 1406)
1. Transfer under §1404(a):
a) For the convenience of the parties and witnesses, in the interest of justice, court may transfer a civil action to another district.
b) Only applies to federal courts!
2. Transfer under § 1406 → when original court is improper venue, D may move to:
a) dismiss the action; or,
b) move to transfer in the interest of justice.
3. Because of Erie doctrine applicable to diversity cases, an action transferred under § 1404(a) is governed by the law of the state where the transferor court sits (original) whether transfer is by P’s or D’s motion.
