Tuesday, Aug. 26

Civil Procedure Law 102 Section 1

Michael Green Office: 260 Office Hours: ?

review sessions W 2-3? W 3-4? F afternoon?

Field, Kaplan and Clermont, Civil Procedure - Materials for a Basic Course, Concise 10th edition (2011) Glannon, Examples & Explanations: Civil Procedure, 7th edition (2013)

No laptops!

1) Brief description of subject matter of course a) why does Civ Pro seem to hard? b) three main themes in course c) quick overview of a civil suit 2) Pleading: Drafting a Complaint

What is civil procedure?

procedure v. substance

civil v. criminal

sounds more boring than it is...

sounds more interesting than it is...

Why is civil procedure so hard?

not familiar with activity being legally regulated

interdependencies

regulatory/statutory

dynamic

structure of legal system is central

federal vs. state state vs. state (e.g California vs. New York)

Constitutional Law Statutory Law Fed. R. Civ. P. Common Law

U.S. Const. Amendment V. No person shall... be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law...

28 U.S.C. § Diversity of citizenship; amount in controversy; costs (a) The district courts shall have original jurisdiction of all civil actions where the matter in controversy exceeds the sum or value of $75,000, exclusive of interest and costs, and is between- (1) citizens of different States; (2) citizens of a State and citizens or subjects of a foreign state, except that the district courts shall not have original jurisdiction under this subsection of an action between citizens of a State and citizens or subjects of a foreign state who are lawfully admitted for permanent residence in the United States and are domiciled in the same State; (3) citizens of different States and in which citizens or subjects of a foreign state are additional parties; and (4) a foreign state, defined in section 1603(a) of this title, as plaintiff and citizens of a State or of different States.

Fed. R. Civ. P. 4. Summons... (e) Serving an Individual Within a Judicial District of the United States. Unless federal law provides otherwise, an individual — other than a minor, an incompetent person, or a person whose waiver has been filed — may be served in a judicial district of the United States by: (1) following state law for serving a summons in an action brought in courts of general jurisdiction in the state where the district court is located or where service is made; or (2) doing any of the following: (A) delivering a copy of the summons and of the complaint to the individual personally; (B) leaving a copy of each at the individual’s dwelling or usual place of abode with someone of suitable age and discretion who resides there; or (C) delivering a copy of each to an agent authorized by appointment or by law to receive service of process....

Why is civil procedure so important?

“I'll let you write the substance...you let me write the procedure, and I'll screw you every time.” Rep. John Dingell, Jr.

three themes

Balance: 1) upholding the substantive rule of law 2) other interests (e.g. party autonomy and privacy) and 3) efficiency

structure of American legal system

statutory interpretation

Pleading Period

Discovery Period

Trial

Appeal

starting a lawsuit

Structure of Court Systems Federal Court System U.S. Supreme Court U.S. Court of Appeals – E.g. 3 rd Circuit U.S. District Court – E.g. E.D. Pa. Virginia Court System Virginia Supreme Court Court of Appeal Circuit Court (also General District Court)

drafting a complaint

Rule 10. Form of Pleadings Caption; Names of Parties. Every pleading must have a caption with the court’s name, a title, a file number, and a Rule 7(a) designation. The title of the complaint must name all the parties; the title of other pleadings, after naming the first party on each side, may refer generally to other parties.

-Rule 8. General Rules of Pleading (a) Claim for Relief. A pleading that states a claim for relief must contain: (1) a short and plain statement of the grounds for the court’s jurisdiction, unless the court already has jurisdiction and the claim needs no new jurisdictional support; (2) a short and plain statement of the claim showing that the pleader is entitled to relief; and (3) a demand for the relief sought, which may include relief in the alternative or different types of relief.

Rule 10(b) Paragraphs; Separate Statements. A party must state its claims or defenses in numbered paragraphs, each limited as far as practicable to a single set of circumstances. A later pleading may refer by number to a paragraph in an earlier pleading. If doing so would promote clarity, each claim founded on a separate transaction or occurrence — and each defense other than a denial — must be stated in a separate count or defense.

Three things that can be wrong with a complaint: 1) legal sufficiency of factual allegations 2) level of specificity in factual allegations 3) evidentiary support for factual allegations

legal sufficiency of factual allegations do they state a claim?

D had a duty of a care for P D breached the duty P suffered damages D’s breach was cause of P’s damages

P alleges that D drove 100 mph through stop sign, causing an accident resulting in damages to P Does P’s complaint fail to state a claim because P fails to mention that he too drove 100 mph through the stop sign and that had he not done so there would have been no accident?

affirmative defense