Civil Procedure I Outline

A. Introduction
1)      In order for a court to be able to hear a case, the following must be established as valid:
a)      Notice;
b)      Personal jurisdiction;
c)      Subject matter jurisdiction (1331, 1332); AND
d)      Venue (1391)
2)      If all are established, a court may still ask questions about:
a)      Supplemental Jurisdiction (1367)
b)      Removal (1441)
c)      Transfer (1404)
d)      Forum Non Conveniens
B. Notice
Notice: notification given to alert D that a claim is pending before court AND to provide party with opportunity to be heard
1)      Rule: No PJ if notice has not been properly served à requirement of DPC
a)      DPC requires that the deprivation of life, liberty, or property by adjudication be preceded by:
i)        Notice AND
ii)       Opportunity for hearing
2)      Due Process requirements for notice:
a)      Reasonably calculated under all circumstances . . .
i)        To inform interested parties of the pending action, AND
ii)       To afford interested parties the opportunity to present their objections 
b)      Reasonably convey the required info
c)      Afford a reasonable time for interested parties to make their appearance
d)      *If all conditions met, constitutional requirements of notice are satisfied
3)      Types of notice that will suffice under DPC:
a)      Standard: In-hand personal service à personal service of written notice within jurisdiction
b)      Through certified mail
c)      If (a) and (b) are not possible, notice can be achieved in other reasonably calculated ways which are deemed to uphold standards of DPC depending on context of case
i)        Newspaper or publication is acceptable as notification when . . . (Mullane)
(1)   It serves as a supplement to another action which in itself may be reasonably expected to give notice
(2)   It is the only way to reach interested parties
(3)   It is reasonably certain that the person being notified will in fact be notified
d)      Must determine which method is best and most reasonable to issue the notice to D
 
4)      Case Analysis:  Mullane(D) v. Central Hanover Bank & Trust Co. (P)
a)      FACTS: P petitioned for a judicial settlement of a trust and provided notice by publication in a NY newspaper to all beneficiaries (in strict compliance with NY banking law)
i)        Beneficiaries of trust fund were both residents and nonresidents of NY à names and addresses were not known of all beneficiaries
ii)       When fund was established, all beneficiaries whose addresses it knew were notified via mail
b)      ISSUE: Whether sufficient notice was given to beneficiaries through newspaper publication to allow the court to have PJ over them
c)      HOLDING à Sufficient notice was given to unknown beneficiaries but not to known beneficiaries
i)        Notice by publication fails to comply with due process when the names and addresses of the parties are known since it is not reasonably calculated to reach those who could easily by informed by other means à mailed notice when trust originally established
C. Personal Jurisdiction
Introduction
1)      Personal Jurisdiction designed to answer “where” question à where can D be sued?
2)      If suing a group, must establish that court has PJ over each person
 
Three types of personal jurisdiction
1)      In Personam Jurisdiction: PJ over th