Civil Litigation and Pre-Trial Procedure
Civil Litigation and Pre-Trial Procedure
This domain tests command of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure and their state analogues: how a case starts, how defenses are preserved, how discovery is scoped and compelled, and how a case ends without trial.
Pleadings and defenses
A case begins with a complaint (Rule 3), and the summons and complaint must be served within 90 days (Rule 4(m)). Rule 8 requires a short and plain statement; Twombly and Iqbal require enough facts to make relief plausible. Rule 12(b) defenses include lack of personal jurisdiction, improper venue, insufficient process, and failure to state a claim. Under Rule 12(h), the defenses of personal jurisdiction, venue, and process are waived if not raised in the first response.
Discovery
Rule 26(a) requires initial disclosures; Rule 26(b)(1) limits scope to relevant, proportional, non-privileged material. Interrogatories (Rule 33) are capped at 25 including subparts; document requests (Rule 34) and requests for admission (Rule 36) draw responses in 30 days; depositions (Rule 30) are presumptively limited to 10 per side and 7 hours each. Motions to compel and sanctions fall under Rule 37; protective orders under Rule 26(c).
Disposition without trial
Summary judgment (Rule 56) requires no genuine dispute of material fact, with facts viewed in the nonmovant's favor. Rule 12(b)(6) and Rule 12(c) attack the pleadings. Rule 68 offers of judgment shift costs. Rule 11 requires a signature certifying reasonable inquiry, and its 21-day safe harbor lets a party withdraw a challenged paper.
Worked example
A complaint is served on March 3. The defendant has 21 days to respond under Rule 12(a)(1)(A)(i), so the answer is due March 24. Counting under Rule 6(a): exclude the day of the event, count each intermediate day, include the last day, and if the last day falls on a weekend or holiday, extend to the next business day. If the 21st day were a Saturday, the answer would be due Monday.
Traps
- Answering on the merits before moving under Rule 12(b)(2), waiving the defense.
- Missing the Rule 11 safe-harbor period.
- Assuming all relevant evidence is discoverable regardless of proportionality.
- Treating a motion to dismiss as a ruling on the merits.