Civil Procedure: Jurisdiction, Pleadings, and Preclusion
The framework to hold in mind
Every Civil Procedure question is usually a disguised question about one of four gates: subject-matter jurisdiction, personal jurisdiction, venue, or timing (statute of limitations, removal deadlines, waiver). Work the gates in that order before you analyze the merits.
Subject-matter jurisdiction cannot be waived or consented to, so a question that mentions a defect there is almost always testing whether you spot that the objection survives at any time, including on appeal. Personal jurisdiction is waivable and is waived by failure to raise it in the first Rule 12 response. Venue is also waivable. Distinguish general from specific jurisdiction, and remember that for a corporate defendant, principal place of business and state of incorporation drive general jurisdiction.
Erie and the substance/procedure line
For diversity cases, ask whether the issue is outcome-determinative and whether a federal rule directly governs. If a valid Federal Rule of Civil Procedure or statute covers the point, it applies (subject to the Rules Enabling Act limits). If not, follow state law on substantive matters.
Preclusion
The trilogy to test: same parties or privies, same claim or issue, and a final judgment on the merits. Claim preclusion bars claims that were or could have been brought; issue preclusion bars relitigation of an actually litigated and necessarily decided issue. Watch for the trap of a default judgment (merits for claim preclusion in most courts) versus dismissal without prejudice (no preclusion).
Worked rule of thumb
If a fact pattern gives you a federal claim plus a state claim and asks about pendent jurisdiction, ask whether the state claim shares a common nucleus of operative fact with the federal claim; if yes, supplemental jurisdiction exists unless a statute says otherwise, but the court may decline it if the federal claim drops out early.
Traps
- Removal is barred in pure in-state diversity cases.
- A Rule 12(b)(6) motion is not a speaking motion; facts outside the complaint convert it.
- Counterclaim compulsory versus permissive turns on logical relationship to the transaction.