CIVIL PROCEDURE I
CIVIL PROCEDURE INTRODUCTION: Background/History
I. What is Civil Procedure and where did it come from?
a. Adjudication between ordinary citizens/private parties (civil) vs. Criminal Procedure (state [prosecution] v. defendant)
i. Civil actions examples: Antitrust, personal injury, labor…
b. In order to get to trial, a complaint must first be filed uRule 3t
i. You must determine when and where (jurisdiction) you have to file the complaint.
c. Timeline of Courts
i. Which Court came first, State or Federal? State Courts were the original courts in operation
1. State Supreme Court (or Court of Appeals in New York and Maryland)
2. Appellate Courts
3. Trial Courts
ii. Federal Courts were eventually created and became concurrent to State Courts
1. Constitution (Article III-Judicial branch)-ratified in 1787 (U.S. Const. art. III, §§ 1-2)
a. Created the Supreme Court (and lower Federal courts over time)
b. Judiciary Act-1789
i. Congress created the lower federal courts (U.S. District Courts)
2. In 1891, 13 Circuit Courts of Appeals (11 are numbered) were created
a. Feds wanted to give defendants a fair forum to settle disputes
3. Federal courts could not try cases of Federal law until 1875 when Congress gave them the power to do so (they had no jurisdiction at the time)
a. However, there were still questions over the Constitution, and State courts did not trust the Federal court decisions
b. HOWEVER, after the Civil War, the Feds had to ensure that state courts were not depriving people of their federal rights because of Southern states wanting to secede, so Federal courts became important
d. Civil Procedure helps us find out what we do after we find the right court for a case.
e. The overview of Civil Procedure events roughly go as follows:
i. Complaint/Pleading
ii. Pre-answer motions
iii. Answer
iv. Discovery (larger time period)
v. Summary Judgment (Rule 56)
vi. Trial
1. Opening Arguments
a. Plaintiff goes first (burden of proof)
b. Defendant can then move for Judgment as a Matter of Law (JAML) in Federal courts which is called a Directed Verdict in State courts (formerly Directed Verdict in Federal courts)
i. This refers to a claim that the plaintiff does not have any evidence for the complaint to go to trial.
ii. See Renewed JAML after Verdict
c. Defendant and Witnesses testify
d. Plaintiff or defendant can then move for JAML
e. Verdict and Judgment
i. May be challenged by:
1. Renewed Judgment as a Matter of Law (Renewed JAML), formerly JNOV: Judgment Notwithstanding the Verdict (judgment made in opposition to the jury’s decision)
2. Motion for New Trial: Filed when plaintiff or defendant finds some error the judge made
Procedure?)
a. To further the following goals of adjudicating civil disputes? uRule 1t
i. They shall be construed and administered to secure the just, speedy, and inexpensive determination of every action. (FRCP 1)
1. Justice
2. Efficiency (Speedy, Inexpensive)
3. Fair Process
4. Truth
a. Note that in some cases, truth AND justice may not both be present but should be satisfactorily met in Civil Procedure
ii. The Civil Procedure system finds the best balance of the goals
1. A bulk of litigation is done by the Adversarial System of Procedure
a. What is the Adversarial System? 2 parties going against each other for a good balance with the Judge closely involved but impartial
i. Parties control the direction of the case, not the judge
2. What happens when there is a problem with the judge? (Band’s v. Borough Case)
a. Judge Issues/Problems
i. Under the rules of Civil Procedure, a judge is not supposed to control a case and use it as a forum for his/her own motivations
1. A judge is not supposed to call his/her own witnesses (both parties have no opportunity to prepare)
