Civil Procedure Outline – Beane – Fall 2012
Authority of a Court to Hear the Case
– Subject Matter Jurisdiction
o Federal Question
§ Constitutional Standard is that there be some Federal Ingredient
§ Well Pleaded Complaint Rule States that the issue of Federal Law must be Raised in the Plaintiff’s Well Pleaded Complaint
§ The Artful Pleading Doctrine Prevents the Plaintiff from raising a Federal Issue in anticipation of the defendant’s affirmative Defense
§ Grable & Sons allowed for the Federal Courts to Exercise Federal Question Jurisdiction over state law claims that have a substantial federal issue within them
o Diversity
§ Domicile is Determined from the point of filing, not at the time of the incident or at the time of trial
§ Aliens may not sue one another unless there is a US citizen present on each side of the suit
§ Aliens with permanent resident status will be considered to be domiciled in their state of residence
§ Separate and distinct claims may not be aggregated to reach the statutory threshold
o Supplemental Jurisdiction
§ The Constitutional Standard is if the claim is part of the same case
§ The Statutory Standard involves the same nucleus of operative facts
· Codifies the Gibbs Standard
§ 1367 (a)
· The claim receiving supplemental jurisdiction must arise from the same nucleus of operative facts as the qualifying issue
· This allows for third party claims brought by the defendant
§ 1367 (b)
· Restricts Claims that the plaintiff can bring when the Qualifying claim is under DIVERSITY
o Any Party Brought into the Suit Under Rules 14, 19, 20, 24
§ 14 = Third Party Defendant
§ 19 = Necessary Indispensible Party
§ 20 = Additional, Permissive Parties
§ 24 = Intervening Parties
§ 1367(c)
· Federal Discretion can be exercised and the additional issue may be excluded
o If it involves a novel or complex issue of state law
o If the State Claim Predominates
o If the Federal Claims have been dismissed and only state law claims remain
o Exceptional Circumstances (they feel like it)
§ Steps in the Analysis of whether a claim will qualify for supplemental jurisdiction
· Is there an overarching Federal Claim
· Is there a factually related state claim that is a part of the same case and that arises under the same nucleus of operative facts
· Do the Exclusions of 1367(b) apply
· Is there some reason why the court, in its discretion, should not exercise jurisdiction
§ Some Additional Notes
· You can’t do through the back door what you couldn’t do through the front door
o Diversity Plaintiff can’t amend his complaint to include an impleaded third party defendant.
§ 1367(b) would preclude this
· You can bring a counterclaim once the Third Party Defendant brings a claim against the plaintiff.
o 1367(b) doesn’t apply to counterclaims
– Personal Jurisdiction over the defendant
o How is Personal Jurisdiction shown to be proper
§ Two Step Analysis
· Statutory Test – Does the state have an applicable long arm statute
o General – gives the state power to reach out so long as the exercise of personal jurisdiction would be fair
§ The same as the Constitutional Standard
o Specific – more narrow; grants the state’s court the power to reach out if the defendant has committed certain enumerated acts in the forum
· Constitutional Standard – When such minimum contacts exist between the defendant and the forum that requiring the defendant to defend himself in the forum state would not offend traditional notions of fair play of substantial justice
o Pennoyer and Progeny (below)
§ Proper Service of Process on the Defendant
o Relevant Cases
§ Hess v. Palowski – Statutes can be passed by a state that give implied consent by the defendant to be sued in the forum by virtue of his taking some action in the forum
§ International Shoe – New Proxy for Consent; Constitutionally, under a due process perspective, the exercise of personal jurisdiction over the defendant is appropriate when he has such minimum contacts with the forum that it would not offend traditional notions of fair play and substantial justice to hale him into court to defend himself in the forum
§ McGee v. Int’l Life – Though someone reaches into the forum for a single contact in the course of his larger business operations, that single contact can be sufficient for purposes of obtaining personal jurisdiction when the single contact gives rise to the cause of action
§ Hanson v. Denckla – The defendant’s contacts with the forum must be the result of his purposefully availing himself of the benefits and protections of the laws of the forum state; the unilateral acts of ot
nvolved property is located or where a substantial part of the acts or omissions occurred
· (3) – if 1&2 aren’t met, venue is proper in any district where there is personal jurisdiction over any of the defendants at the time the suit is commenced
§ 1391(c) Corporate Defendants
· Defines Corporations Residences for the Purposes of determining proper venue under (a)(1) and (b)(1)
· A Corporation is considered a resident of each district that would have personal jurisdiction over the corporation if that district were an autonomous state
§ 1391 (d) Aliens
· Venue will be proper for an alien defendant in any district
o Some general rules for Venue
§ Venue is a privilege of the defendant; if improper venue is not objected to in the initial pleading, the objection is waived
· Venue Selection Clauses are enforceable, though venue may not be proper under the statute
§ Residence and Domicile are not the same for venue purposes. A person can reside in many districts.
§ The fall back provision tends to be invoked when there are multiple defendants from different districts
§ Some special venue provisions may be present for statutory causes of action and will supersede 1391
– Removal
o Process to Remove a case
§ Determine that the claim is removable
§ File Notice of Removal and Civil Cover Sheet with Federal Court Clerk
· Notice Contents
o Short and Plain Statement for removal grounds
§ State that all defendants consent
o Copy of all process, pleadings, and orders that have been served on the defendant
o Name the proceeding from the state court and give case #
§ File Notice of Removal with State Court
§ Send certified copies of notices of removal and all other documents to plaintiff
§ Give certified copy of all documents to Federal Clerk with a filing fee
o All defendants then served must consent to the removal
