Civil Procedure I
Fall 2006
Shaughnessy
I. Pleadings
A. COMPLAINT
1. Filing: begins the case
2. RULE 8(a): tells the plaintiff that the complaint must include. All 3 MUST exist, or you can’t file a complaint.
(1) Statement of subject matter jurisdiction
(2) A short and plain statement of the claim (show what you want, show that you’re entitled to relief)
a. Notice Pleading: state enough so the defendant knows what he is being sued for.
(3) Demand for judgment (you have to tell the court what you want — $$, judgment etc.
B. If dismissed, it will be dismissed without prejudice (plaintiff can try again)
C. Conley v. Gibson: African American railroad workers replaced with Caucasians. Rule: A complaint should not be dismissed for failure to state a claim unless it appears beyond doubt that the plaintiff can prove no set of facts in support of his claim which would entitle him to relief
D. Rule 9(b): circumstances of fraud and mistake must be pleaded with particularity (detail)
E. Rule 9(g): items of special damage, must be pleaded with specificity (detail!)
1. Special damages are those that don’t normally flow from an event
2. Example: permanent erection after a car accident
II. DEFENDANT’S RESPONSE is a PLEADING!!!!
A. In response, you must do 2 things:
1. RULE 8(b): You must respond to allegations of the complaint
(1) You can either: admit, deny, or not have enough info to do either
(2) If you fail to deny, you have admitted it!
(3) DO NOT ARGUE, defendant just needs to say “We deny”—that’s it
a. Fuentes v. Tucker: The plaintiff’s young sons were killed in a car accident in which the defendant was the driver. The defendant admitted that he was liable for the deaths, and the damages were directly and proximately caused by him
1. Once you admit to an issue in pleadings, that evidence isn’t admissible at trial
2. Court says that it was an error to admit this evidence (that driver was drunk) because immaterial evidence eats up the courts time…especially when the issue (car accident) has been agreed upon, but nevertheless, the judgment should be affirmed because the jury verdict was a reasonable amount
3. CIVIL ACTION: similar in that the plaintiffs were entitled to the emotional impact of their story v. the defendants & judge skinner’s view that it was appropriate to limit the legally significant issue
4. RULE 8(b)
b. Zielinski v. Philadelphia Piers: The plaintiff wanted to sue the defendant in order to collect personal injury compensation, but was unaware that the business of moving freights on piers in Philadelphia was formerly owned by the defendant, but had been sold to Carload Contractors, Inc. and Sandy Johnson had been transferred to the payroll of this corporation without realizing it, since the nature or location of his work had not changed
1. Same insurance company for both PPs and Carload Contractors, but they wait it out. 2 years passed, not P can’t sue PP. Rule 15(c)(3) – insurance company had a duty to disclose the correct D’s information because they were asked.
2. Defendants were under no duty
h Amendment.
(1) Judge dismissed the case under 12(b)(6) à substantive dismissal
(2) Plaintiffs appeal and argue that it isn’t only about comparative worth, but that the comparative work study + the state’s lack of reaction to it is only part of the state’s discrimintion
(3) It is sometimes a bad idea to give too many facts in a pleading
(4) RULE 8 – claim had valid claims with invalid pleadings, courts shouldn’t throw out complaints because they don’t plead something
5. Answer can be DENIAL, DEFENSE, or DEFENSE CLAIM
(1) Denials: in all jurisdictions, the D must admit for deny in the answer all the well-pleaded allegations of the complaint. Failure to deny an allegation in a required responsive pleading, other than an allegation of the amount of damages, is deemed an admission. Admissions are deemed conclusive at trial. Rule 8
(2) Defenses: besides denials, an answer should contain “in short and plain terms” other defenses to each claim in the complaint. Rule 8(b)& Rule 8(c) list the affirmative defenses that must be pleaded in the answer in order to raise them at trial, including:
– Statute of Limitations
– Illegality
– Fraud
– Contributory negligence
– Accord and satisfaction
– Arbitration and award
