Civil Procedure I Outline

Civil Procedure Outline Carlson Fall 2012
IRAC
1.       State issue
2.       Give rules
3.       Arguments for each side
4.       Give conclusion
 
Overview of Courts and Introduction to the Process of Law
Due Process
Goals & Values of Procedure
§   Why do we have procedure?
§   How and why does process matter?
§   How do we design procedural rules?
Goldberg v. Kelly (Twen)
Fourteenth Amendment Due Process Clause: “Nor shall any state deprive any person of life, liberty or property without the due process of law.”
§   Elements of a Due Process Claim:
û   No state—New York
û   Shall deprive—taking away Ps benefits
û   Person—plaintiffs
û   Of life, liberty, or property—welfare
û   Without due process of law—no pretermination hearing
Rudimentary Due Process:
–            Opportunity to be heard—“meaningful time & manner”
–            Notice
–            Confront witness
–            Present arguments
–            Claimant allowed to retain counsel
–            Impartial decisionmaker who states reasons (at least orally)
§   Broad approach:
Ø  Notification and procedures taking way welfare benefits insufficient due process as there was no pre-decision hearing where confrontation was possible. Therefore, court found certain government benefits cannot be deprived before full evidentiary hearing.
§   Values of Procedure
ü  Justice
ü  Truth
ü  Dignitary/participatory value
ü  Legitimacy
ü  Cost
Mathews v. Eldridge (Twen)
§   Narrowed approach
Ø  Medical disability benefits terminated. Court finds due process, however, as disability benefits decided by medical documentation and not the explanations of the person in question.
Ø  Three factors
·           The private interest that will be affected by the official action
·           The risk of an erroneous deprivation of such interest through the procedures used, and the probable value, if any, of additional procedural safeguards, and
·           The government’s interest, including the function and the fiscal and administrative burdens that the additional procedural requirement would entail.
Mashaw Esssay: (Does not agree with Eldridge decision)
û   Utilitarianism—Cost/benefits. Purpose of decisional procedures is to maximize social welfare (Eldridge)
û   Individual dignity—Moral and status dimensions of decision important as well as temporary loss of income.
û   Equality—procedures should provide due process for disadvantaged classes.
û   Tradition or evolution—predictability and economy of effort
 Concluding Thoughts on Due Process
“Due process asks whether government has treated someone fairly, whether individual dignity has been honored, whether the worth of an individual has been acknowledged . . .  It is for these reasons that the Due Process Clause demands of judges more than proficiency in logical analysis.  It requires that we be sensitive to the balance of reason and passion that mark a given age, and the ways in which that balance leaves its mark on everyday exchanges between government and citizen.”
 
Starting the Action
Deciding to Litigate
How to initiate a lawsuit?
–            Find a lawyer
û   Divide responsibility
ü  Clients make major decisions about the goals of litigation.
ü  Questions of tactics belong to the lawyer
û   What questions the clients are interested in?
ü  How much it will cost them to get-or defend against-that relief
ü  How long it will take?
ü  How the lawyers are paid?
û   What questions the lawyer should consider?
ü  What remedies a court will order?
·           Substitutionary remedies
·           Specific remedies
û   Decide how to handle problems that arise from this division of responsibility.
–            Where to file suit?—whether a choice of courts
û   The rules governing where a suit can be brought come under the heading of subject matter jurisdiction, personal jurisdiction, and venue.
Ø  Personal jurisdiction
·           a court cannot exercise power unless the state in which that court sits has some connection with the defendant or with the accident that give rise to the defendant’s claim
·           The doctrine of personal jurisdiction focuses on the defendant, who is being taken to court against his will.—A state cannot enter a judgment against a defendant who has no connection with the state.
Ø  Subject matter jurisdiction
·           All states have at least one court of general jurisdiction.
·           Federal court have limited jurisdiction.—Article III, Section 2 of the deferral Constitution—diversity jurisdiction; federal question jurisdiction
·           Congress decides the precise subject matter jurisdiction of the federal court.
Ø  All federal judges are appointed for life.
Most state judges are subject to some electoral approval.
            Substitutionary remedies
–            Compensatory damages
û   Economic damages—damages that will compensate the plaintiff for money he has either lost or has had to pay.
û   Damages beyond economic losses—pain and suffering; economic distress may be an element of damages in some cases.
Ø  The parties must offer proof of noneconomic damages
Ø  The amount of damages of noneconomic damages should be decided by the jury based on the evidence and the common sense.
–            Liquidated, statutory, and punitive damages
û   Liquidated damages
Ø  The parties agreed beforehand about the price of the harm
Ø  The parties may not agree to liquidated damages unless the actual damages would be difficult to calculate.
Ø  At an amount which is reasonable in light of the anticipated or actual harm caused by the breach, the difficulties of proof of harm by the breach, the difficulties of proof of loss, and the inconvenience or nonfeasibility of otherwise obtaining an adequate remedy.
û   Punitive damages
Ø  Specifically designed to punish the defendant for wrongfu