CA Bar key terms

A court's authority to hear a particular category of case, such as federal-question or diversity cases. Without it, the court must dismiss, regardless of what the parties want.

A court's power over a particular defendant. It generally requires minimum contacts with the forum state such that suit there does not offend traditional notions of fair play and substantial justice.

Federal court power over suits between citizens of different states, or between a citizen and an alien, when the amount in controversy exceeds $75,000 and complete diversity exists when the case is filed.

The procedure by which a defendant moves a case from state court to federal court, available only when the federal court would have had original jurisdiction over the plaintiff's claim.

Rule barring a party from suing again on a claim that was, or could have been, raised in an earlier action resolved by a final judgment on the merits.

A pretrial motion granted when the pleadings, discovery materials, and affidavits show no genuine dispute of any material fact and the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law.

The constitutional requirement that most individual rights protect against conduct by government officials rather than private parties, although some private conduct is treated as governmental in function or entangled with the state.

The toughest standard of judicial review. A law must serve a compelling governmental interest and be narrowly tailored to achieve that interest, and it applies to suspect classifications and fundamental rights.

The most deferential standard of review. A law survives if it is rationally related to a legitimate government purpose, and the challenger must show that no conceivable justification supports it.

The principle that states may not discriminate against, or unduly burden, interstate commerce even when Congress has not acted, subject to exceptions such as the market participant doctrine.

The requirement that a plaintiff have a concrete personal stake in the dispute, shown by an actual or imminent injury, fairly traceable to the defendant, and likely to be redressed by a favorable ruling.

Something of value, such as a promise or a performance, bargained for and given in exchange for another party's promise, which makes the agreement legally enforceable.

Doctrine that enforces a promise made without consideration when the promisor reasonably expected the promisee to rely, the promisee did rely, and injustice can be avoided only by enforcement.

A rule requiring certain agreements, including those involving land or that cannot be performed within one year, to be evidenced by a writing signed by the party being sued.

An unequivocal statement or act by a party, before performance is due, indicating it will not perform, which lets the other party sue immediately or wait for performance.

Rule that a fully integrated written agreement cannot be contradicted or varied by earlier or contemporaneous oral or written statements, though such evidence may be admitted to explain an ambiguity.

The mental state required for a crime, such as purpose, knowledge, recklessness, or negligence. The prosecution must prove it along with the prohibited act for most offenses.

The voluntary physical act, or a failure to act where a legal duty exists, that makes up the prohibited conduct of a crime. Thoughts and status alone cannot be punished.

A rule making a defendant liable for murder when a death occurs during the commission of an inherently dangerous felony, even without intent to kill, though many jurisdictions limit its reach.

The remedy that suppresses evidence obtained through an unconstitutional search or seizure, subject to exceptions such as good faith reliance on a warrant and inevitable discovery.

Advice police must give a suspect in custody before interrogation, warning of the rights to remain silent and to counsel, whose waiver must be voluntary, knowing, and intelligent.

The tendency of evidence to make a fact of consequence more or less probable. Irrelevant evidence is inadmissible, and relevant evidence may still be excluded if its probative value is outweighed by unfair prejudice.

An out-of-court statement offered to prove the truth of the matter it asserts. It is generally inadmissible unless a hearsay exception applies or the statement is offered for another purpose.

A hearsay exception for a statement about a startling event or condition made while the declarant was under the stress of excitement that the event caused.

The process of attacking a witness's credibility, for example with prior inconsistent statements, evidence of bias, a criminal conviction, or contradictory evidence.

Evidence of a person's traits offered to show that the person acted in conformity with them, generally barred in civil cases and in the prosecution's case-in-chief, subject to exceptions.

The most complete estate in land. It lasts indefinitely, is freely inheritable, and carries no limits on transfer unless the owner separately creates a restriction.

A way to gain title to another person's land by possessing it openly, notoriously, exclusively, continuously, and hostilely for the period the statute requires.

A nonpossessory right to use another's land that benefits a neighboring parcel and passes automatically when that benefited parcel is transferred.

Co-ownership with a right of survivorship that requires the four unities of time, title, interest, and possession; ending any one unity turns the arrangement into a tenancy in common.

A state law governing priority among competing interests in land. Under a notice or race-notice statute, a later buyer who pays value without notice and records first prevails.

Conduct that falls below the standard of a reasonable person and causes harm. Proving it requires duty, breach, causation, and damages.

A doctrine allowing an inference of negligence when the accident is one that normally does not happen without negligence and was caused by something under the defendant's exclusive control.

The requirement that the defendant's conduct be a substantial factor in causing the harm and that the injury be a foreseeable result rather than an extraordinary, unforeseeable consequence.

A system that reduces a plaintiff's damages in proportion to the plaintiff's own fault, sometimes barring recovery entirely when that fault exceeds a set percentage.

A false statement of fact, published to a third party, that harms another's reputation. Public figures and public matters require proof of actual malice.