Civil Procedure I Outline

 
Berman
Civil Procedure I
Spring 2014
 
 
1.       JURISDICTION
–          PERSONAL JURISDICTION – person must be subject to suit in the state which the court is located
–          Any exercise of personal jurisdiction must pass 2 tests: It must be authorized by the statute AND be consistent with constitutional standards/ constraints
–          Need POWER, NOTICE, AND VENUE
o   Power
§  In personam (over people) Need:
·         Statutory authority (state v federal author)
o   Rule 4.k
o   State long arm statutes
·         Constitutional (due process) analysis
o   Specific jurisdiction – related
o   General jurisdiction – not necessarily related
§  In rem, Quasi in rem
·         Statutory authority
·         Constitutional (due process) analysis
§  Consent
o   Notice/ process
o   Venue
§  Transfer and form non convenience
–          SUBJECT MATTER JURISDICTION – court selected has the jurisdiction over the subject matter; constitution and stautes have the power to decide this type of case
–          EX: A kills a bald eagle in MO. This is a FEDERAL crime so MO federal district court has authority to decide case based on FEDERAL statute
 
2.       PERSONAL JURISDICTION
–          Power comes from full faith and credit clause of the constitution – if there is a valid judgment in one state, other states must recognize that judgment if someone comes into that state to execute it
–          Challenging personal jurisdiction:
o   Special appearance and motion to dismiss (because of lack of jurisdiction)
§  Defendant appears in state court and objects to the personal jurisdiction
o   Collateral attack
§  Default judgment/ no appearance DANGEROUS APPROACH
·         Defendant does nothing and default judgment entered against them
·         After that judgment plaintiff goes to enforce it against defendant and defendant attacks that judgment
–          3 REQUIREMENTS FOR ESTABLISHING PERSONAL JURISDICTION: 1. POWER
o   3 ways to establish personal jurisdiction power (only need one):
§  In personam
·         The court having power over the person; could be established by defendant being a resident
·         By statutory authority;
o   state long arm statute which establishes the states Self-imposed restraints on state’s jurisdiction
§  Reason to establish was to keep everything from coming into state
§  How far a court can reach over certain cases (to a defendant)
o   federal long arm statute has even more power;
·         constitutional analysis – due process clause
o   specific jurisdiction
§  more stringent requirements; intertwined with the state enough to be able to be sued or be sued
·         EX: I can sue in both MO and IN court
o   general jurisdiction
§  hear cases of any kind and able to grant relief
§  In rem/ Quasi in rem
·         The court having power over property/ chattels of the defendant
§  Consent
·         Defendant consents to appear before the court as specified by the plaintiff
–          3 REQUIREMENTS FOR ESTABLISHING PERSONAL JURISDICTION: 2. NOTICE/ PROCESS
o   Defendant receives adequate notice of the pending action and has opportunity to be heard in proceeding that affects his or her interests
o   Process is serving a court and defendant with the plaintiff’s complaint
o   Defendant can be served by RULE 5.B.2:
§  Personal service – gold standard
§  Direct mail – usually sufficient
·         Mass mailings if reaching multiple people
§  Publication/ constructive notice – bad notice, but constitutionally sufficient
·         May be if persons are missing or unknown
–          3 REQUIREMENTS FOR ESTABLISHING PERSONAL JURISDICTION: 3. VENUE
o   Place of venue flows from statutory authority
o   States statutes will typically provide case be brought in a court whose district included where plaintiff and defendant live
o   If there is DIVERSITY OF CITIZENSHIP, then plaintiff can sue in FEDERAL COURT. DOC allows federal district to exercise authority to hear a lawsuit
§  Where jurisdiction is based on DOC, a suit may be brought in 1) the district where a plaintiff or defendant lives, or 2) the district where the substantial part of the events occurred giving rise to the claim, or 3) anywhere where the defendant is subject to personal jurisdiction
3.       SUBJECT MATTER JURISDICTION
–          Question of what court do you go to? A state court or federal court?
–          Think: personal jurisdiction is over parties. SMJ is over cases and claims
o   Federal courts can only hear certain kinds of cases
o   CASES THAT GO TO FEDERAL COURT:
§  Diversity of citizenship, or
§  Federal question
–          Diversity of Citizenship
o   1332 A 1 of the judicial code
§  2 requirements for diversity cases: ((need both))
·         1. Case is between citizens of different sates
·         2. Amount in controversy exceeds $75,000
§  1. Citizens of different states, 4 points
·         1 Complete diversity rule – there is no diversity if any plaintiff is a citizen of the same state as any defendant
·         2 Citizenship of a human b