Civil Procedure—Mini Outline

Ordered by testing weight: about two-thirds of MBE Civ Pro is jurisdiction & venue, pretrial procedures, and motions—so those lead. Erie, preclusion, juries, and appeals follow.

1. Jurisdiction & venue

Subject-matter jurisdiction

• Federal question: arises under federal law on the well-pleaded complaint—a federal defense doesn't count.
• Diversity: complete diversity (no plaintiff shares a state with any defendant) plus amount in controversy exceeding $75,000. Citizenship: individuals = domicile; corporations = state(s) of incorporation and principal place of business (nerve center); unincorporated associations = every member's citizenship.
• Supplemental jurisdiction: claims sharing a common nucleus of operative fact—but a diversity plaintiff can't use it to smuggle in a non-diverse defendant.
• Removal: a defendant may remove within 30 days; all defendants must consent; a diversity case can't be removed if any defendant is a citizen of the forum. SMJ can't be waived and can be raised anytime.

Personal jurisdiction, service & venue

• Personal jurisdiction: a traditional basis (domicile, presence when served, consent) or long-arm plus minimum contacts—purposeful availment, relatedness (specific) or "at home" (general), and fairness.
• Service of process: personal, at the dwelling with a suitable person, or on an agent—plus the state's methods. A waiver-of-service option exists.
• Venue: where any defendant resides (if all in one state) or where a substantial part of the events occurred; courts may transfer for convenience (§1404) or dismiss for forum non conveniens.

2. Pretrial procedures

• Pleadings: the complaint needs a plausible claim (Twombly/Iqbal); fraud/mistake with particularity. The answer raises admissions, denials, and affirmative defenses.
• Rule 12(b) defenses: lack of PJ, improper venue, and insufficient process/service are waived if omitted from the first response; SMJ and failure to state a claim are preserved.
• Amendments may relate back when arising from the same conduct (and, for new parties, the party had notice and knew the suit would have named them).
• Joinder: compulsory vs. permissive counterclaims; crossclaims; impleader (Rule 14); necessary/indispensable parties (Rule 19); intervention (Rule 24); interpleader; and class actions (Rule 23—numerosity, commonality, typicality, adequacy, plus a (b) category).
• Discovery: reaches nonprivileged, relevant, proportional matter; work product is protected absent substantial need; experts and required disclosures have special rules; sanctions for abuse.
• Provisional remedies: TROs and preliminary injunctions (likelihood of success, irreparable harm, balance of equities, public interest).

3. Motions

• Motions on the pleadings (12(b)(6), 12(c)) test legal sufficiency.
• Summary judgment (Rule 56): no genuine dispute of material fact and the movant wins as a matter of law—supported by the record, viewed in the non-movant's favor.
• Judgment as a matter of law (Rule 50): during trial once a party is fully heard, and renewed after the verdict, when a reasonable jury could reach only one result.
• Post-trial: motions for a new trial and for relief from judgment (Rule 60).

4. Law applied—Erie

• A federal court sitting in diversity applies federal procedural law and state substantive law. Substantive: statutes of limitations, tolling, choice-of-law rules, and elements of claims/defenses. On a direct clash, a valid Federal Rule controls (Hanna).

5. Verdicts, judgments & preclusion

• Defaults, dismissals (voluntary/involuntary), and the effect of judgments.
• Claim preclusion (res judicata): same claim, same parties, valid final judgment on the merits—bars the whole claim, including omitted theories.
• Issue preclusion (collateral estoppel): an issue actually litigated and determined, essential to the judgment, is binding later; nonmutual use (defensive and offensive) is often allowed.

6. Juries & appeals

• Right to a jury (Seventh Amendment) attaches to legal, not equitable, claims; jury selection and challenges (for cause, peremptory—no Batson discrimination); instructions and objections.
• Appeals: the final judgment rule, with exceptions (interlocutory appeals, collateral order, certified questions, Rule 54(b)); standards of review (de novo for law, clear error for facts, abuse of discretion).