IN SW Juris cheat sheet

Subject-matter jurisdiction: federal question under 28 U.S.C. §1331 requires a federal issue on the face of a well-pleaded complaint; diversity under §1332 requires complete diversity plus an amount in controversy exceeding $75,000, exclusive of interest and costs.

Personal jurisdiction: general jurisdiction exists where the defendant is at home (individual domicile; corporation's state of incorporation or principal place of business); specific jurisdiction requires purposeful availment, relatedness of the claim to those contacts, and reasonableness (fair play and substantial justice).

Supplemental jurisdiction under §1367(a) reaches claims sharing a common nucleus of operative fact with a claim invoking original jurisdiction; §1367(b) bars supplemental claims by plaintiffs in diversity cases against parties joined under Rules 14, 19, 20, or 24.

Erie doctrine: state substantive law governs in diversity cases (Rules of Decision Act); federal procedural rules valid under the Rules Enabling Act govern if they do not abridge substantive rights; if no rule or statute controls, balance federal and state interests.

Pleadings under Rule 8(a) require a short plain statement of jurisdiction, claim, and demand for relief; Rule 12(b)(6) dismissal follows from failure to state a claim; heightened particularity applies to fraud (Rule 9(b)) and to pleading a statute of limitations defense.

Discovery scope under Rule 26(b)(1) is any nonprivileged matter relevant to a party's claim or defense and proportional to the needs of the case; work product under Rule 26(b)(3) is discoverable only on a showing of substantial need and undue hardship.

Summary judgment under Rule 56 is granted when no genuine dispute of material fact exists and the movant is entitled to judgment as a matter of law; the nonmovant gets all reasonable inferences.

Preclusion: claim preclusion (res judicata) requires a final judgment on the merits, identity of parties, and identity of claims; issue preclusion requires the same issue actually litigated, determined, and necessary to the judgment.

Appealability: final judgment rule under §1291; interlocutory appeals by permission under §1292(b) require a controlling question of law, substantial ground for difference of opinion, and material advancement of termination.

Standing under Article III requires injury in fact (concrete and particularized, actual or imminent), causation fairly traceable to the defendant, and redressability; third-party standing and taxpayer standing are narrow exceptions.

Strict scrutiny applies to suspect classifications (race, national origin, alienage in some contexts) and fundamental rights; the law must be narrowly tailored to a compelling interest. Intermediate scrutiny applies to sex and illegitimacy; rational basis applies to age, poverty, and economic regulation.

Due process: procedural due process under Mathews v. Eldridge balances private interest, risk of erroneous deprivation, and government interest; substantive due process protects fundamental rights (marriage, procreation, contraception, parental care) under strict scrutiny.

Equal protection tiers: racial classifications require narrow tailoring to a compelling interest; affirmative action in higher education must satisfy strict scrutiny and consider race only as a plus factor (see SFFA v. Harvard, 2023, holding race-conscious admissions policies unlawful).

First Amendment speech: content-based regulation is presumptively invalid unless narrowly tailored to a compelling interest; time, place, and manner rules must be content-neutral, narrowly tailored, and leave open ample alternatives; incitement requires intent, imminence, and likelihood of producing imminent lawless action (Brandenburg).

Establishment Clause: Lemon test asks for secular purpose, primary effect neither advancing nor inhibiting religion, and no excessive entanglement; the Court in Kennedy v. Bremerton (2022) applied historical practices and understandings in place of Lemon.

Commerce Clause: Congress may regulate channels, instrumentalities, and activities substantially affecting interstate commerce; post-Lopez limits require economic activity or a jurisdictional hook; the 10th Amendment anti-commandeering rule bars Congress from commanding state legislatures or executives.

Dormant Commerce Clause: state laws discriminating against interstate commerce face strict scrutiny; nondiscriminatory laws are valid unless the burden on interstate commerce clearly exceeds local benefits.

Presidential powers: Article II powers include appointment, removal, pardon, veto, and commander-in-chief; executive privilege is qualified and yields to criminal process; executive orders are reviewable unless committed to discretion by law.

Common-law formation requires offer, acceptance, and consideration; UCC §2-204 allows formation in any manner sufficient to show agreement, and §2-206 permits acceptance by prompt promise or shipment unless unambiguously conditioned on a particular mode.

UCC §2-207: a definite and seasonable expression of acceptance operates as acceptance even with additional or different terms; between merchants additional terms become part of the contract unless they materially alter it, are objected to, or the offer expressly limits acceptance to its terms.

Statute of Frauds: UCC §2-201 requires writing for sale of goods over $500, but §2-201(3) enforces oral contracts admitted in pleadings or testimony, specially manufactured goods, or payment and acceptance; common law requires writing for land, one year, surety, marriage, executor, and goods.

Parol evidence: UCC §2-202 permits course of performance, course of dealing, and usage of trade to explain or supplement a writing; the common law four-corners rule bars prior or contemporaneous agreements that contradict an integrated writing.

Perfect tender rule under UCC §2-601: buyer may reject goods if they fail in any respect to conform; exceptions include installment contracts (§2-612) and the seller's right to cure (§2-508).

Anticipatory repudiation (UCC §2-610) allows the aggrieved party to await performance for a commercially reasonable time, resort to remedies, or suspend performance; retraction is allowed under §2-611 unless the aggrieved party materially changed position.

Expectation damages under common law place the plaintiff in the position as if the contract had been performed; UCC §2-712 covers cover price minus contract price, and §2-713 covers market price minus contract price; consequential damages require foreseeability (Hadley v. Baxendale).

Liquidated damages are enforceable under UCC §2-718 and common law only if reasonable in light of anticipated or actual harm and difficult to estimate; penalties are void.

Defenses: unconscionability (UCC §2-302) examines procedural and substantive unfairness; impossibility and impracticability discharge duties when an unforeseen event makes performance impossible or commercially impracticable; frustration discharges when the principal purpose is substantially frustrated.

Fourth Amendment: a search occurs when the government intrudes on a reasonable expectation of privacy (Katz) or physically trespasses on a constitutionally protected area (Jones); warrantless searches require an exception such as consent, search incident to arrest, automobile, plain view, exigency, or inventory.

Probable cause: facts and circumstances that would lead a reasonable person to believe a crime has been, is being, or will be committed; the totality-of-circumstances test applies to informants (Illinois v. Gates).

Exclusionary rule: evidence obtained in violation of the Fourth Amendment is generally inadmissible; exceptions include good faith, inevitable discovery, attenuation, and independent source; the rule does not apply to grand jury or civil proceedings.

Miranda warnings are required for custodial interrogation; custody is determined by whether a reasonable person would feel free to leave; interrogation includes words or actions reasonably likely to elicit an incriminating response.

Sixth Amendment right to counsel attaches at the initiation of formal adversarial judicial proceedings (critical stage); it is offense-specific.

Criminal liability requires actus reus (voluntary act) and mens rea (intent, knowledge, recklessness, or negligence); strict liability offenses dispense with mens rea.

Homicide: murder requires malice aforethought (intent to kill, intent to cause serious bodily harm, reckless indifference, or felony murder); manslaughter includes heat of passion and criminal negligence; the felony-murder rule requires an inherently dangerous felony and a causal connection.

Inchoate offenses: attempt requires specific intent to commit the crime plus a substantial step; conspiracy requires agreement plus intent to achieve the unlawful objective, and many jurisdictions require an overt act.

Defenses: self-defense requires reasonable belief in imminent unlawful force and proportionality; insanity tests include M'Naghten, irresistible impulse, and the Model Penal Code substantial capacity test; entrapment requires government inducement and lack of predisposition.

Relevance under Rules 401-402: evidence is relevant if it has any tendency to make a fact of consequence more or less probable; Rule 403 permits exclusion if probative value is substantially outweighed by unfair prejudice, confusion, or waste of time.

Character evidence: Rule 404(a) bars propensity evidence except for the accused, the victim, or a witness's character; Rule 404(b) permits evidence of other crimes for motive, opportunity, intent, preparation, plan, knowledge, identity, or absence of mistake.

Hearsay under Rule 801 is an out-of-court statement offered to prove the truth of the matter asserted; nonhearsay uses include impeachment, effect on the listener, and verbal acts.

Hearsay exemptions under Rule 801(d) include prior inconsistent statements under oath, prior consistent statements rebutting fabrication, identifications, and opposing party statements (admissions).

Hearsay exceptions under Rule 803 (declarant availability immaterial) include present sense impression, excited utterance, then-existing mental or physical condition, medical diagnosis or treatment, recorded recollection, business records, public records, and learned treatises.

Rule 804 exceptions require unavailability: former testimony, dying declaration (homicide or civil cases), statements against interest, and forfeiture by wrongdoing.

Confrontation Clause (Crawford v. Washington): testimonial statements by an unavailable declarant are inadmissible unless the defendant had a prior opportunity to cross-examine; nontestimonial statements are governed by reliability.

Privileges: attorney-client privilege protects confidential communications for legal advice; spousal privilege includes the confidential marital communications privilege and the testimonial privilege; physician-patient, psychotherapist, and clergy privileges vary by jurisdiction.

Impeachment: Rule 609 permits impeachment by prior conviction subject to balancing; Rule 608 permits reputation or opinion evidence on truthfulness; Rule 613 requires disclosure of prior inconsistent statements to the witness.

Estates: fee simple absolute is the largest estate; fee tail, life estate, and leasehold estates are lesser; defeasible fees include fee simple determinable (automatic reversion), fee simple subject to condition subsequent (right of entry), and fee simple subject to executory limitation.

Concurrent estates: joint tenancy requires the four unities (time, title, interest, and possession) and the right of survivorship; tenancy in common has no survivorship; tenancy by the entirety requires marriage and is severed only by divorce or mutual agreement in most states.

Landlord-tenant: the implied warranty of habitability requires the landlord to maintain the premises in a habitable condition; the covenant of quiet enjoyment protects against actual or constructive eviction; retaliatory eviction is prohibited.

Easements: an express easement requires a writing; an implied easement arises from prior use or necessity; a prescriptive easement requires open, notorious, continuous, and adverse use for the statutory period; an easement by estoppel requires reliance.

Covenants and equitable servitudes: a real covenant runs with the land if there is a writing, intent, touch and concern, notice, and horizontal and vertical privity; an equitable servitude requires intent, touch and concern, and notice but not privity.

Recording acts: race, notice, and race-notice statutes determine priority among competing purchasers; a bona fide purchaser for value without notice prevails under notice and race-notice statutes.

Adverse possession requires actual, exclusive, continuous, open and notorious, and hostile possession for the statutory period; some states require color of title or payment of taxes.

Mortgages: a mortgage is a lien on real property; foreclosure extinguishes junior liens; a deed in lieu of foreclosure avoids foreclosure but may not extinguish junior liens; the equity of redemption allows the mortgagor to redeem before foreclosure sale.

Zoning and takings: a regulatory taking under Penn Central requires a balancing of economic impact, investment-backed expectations, and character of the government action; a per se taking occurs with a permanent physical occupation or total loss of economic value (Lucas).

Negligence elements: duty, breach, causation (actual and proximate), and damages; the standard of care is a reasonable person of ordinary prudence in the defendant's circumstances.

Duty: a landowner owes a duty to invitees and licensees to warn of known dangers and to exercise reasonable care; trespassers receive a lower duty; the attractive nuisance doctrine applies to children.

Breach: res ipsa loquitur permits an inference of negligence when the accident is of a kind that ordinarily does not occur without negligence, was caused by an instrumentality within the defendant's exclusive control, and was not due to the plaintiff's contribution.

Causation: actual cause uses the but-for test or substantial factor; proximate cause requires foreseeability; intervening causes generally supersede liability unless foreseeable.

Defenses: contributory negligence (complete bar in some jurisdictions), comparative negligence (pure or modified), and assumption of risk (express or implied) reduce or bar recovery.

Intentional torts: battery requires harmful or offensive contact with intent; assault requires apprehension of imminent harmful or offensive contact; false imprisonment requires confinement without consent; trespass to land requires unauthorized entry.

Defamation: elements are a defamatory statement, publication, identification, and fault; public officials and public figures must prove actual malice (New York Times v. Sullivan); private plaintiffs need at least negligence for matters of public concern.

Strict liability applies to abnormally dangerous activities and wild animals; products liability under Restatement §402A and the UCC requires a defective product, causation, and damages; defenses include misuse and assumption of risk.

Nuisance: private nuisance is a substantial and unreasonable interference with another's use and enjoyment of land; public nuisance is an unreasonable interference with a right common to the general public.

Agency: an agency relationship requires consent, control, and a fiduciary relationship; the principal is bound by the agent's actual authority (express or implied) and apparent authority (manifestations by the principal to a third party).

Partnership: a general partnership is an association of two or more persons to carry on a business for profit; each partner is an agent of the partnership and is jointly and severally liable for partnership obligations; a limited partnership has at least one general and one limited partner.

LLC: members have limited liability and may participate in management unless the operating agreement provides otherwise; the LLC is a separate legal entity; veil-piercing applies where the LLC is used to perpetrate fraud or is an alter ego.

Corporation: officers and directors owe duties of care and loyalty; the business judgment rule presumes informed decisions made in good faith; self-dealing requires disclosure and approval by disinterested directors or shareholders.

Corporate formation: de jure corporation requires incorporation compliance; de facto corporation requires a good-faith attempt to incorporate, actual exercise of corporate privileges, and lack of knowledge that the corporation is defective; corporation by estoppel prevents a party from denying corporate existence.

Securities: Rule 10b-5 prohibits fraud in connection with the purchase or sale of securities; a private plaintiff must prove material misrepresentation, scienter, reliance, and damages; the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act imposes heightened pleading standards.

Partnership dissolution: a partner may dissociate; dissolution triggers winding up and distribution of assets; a surviving partner may be liable for partnership obligations incurred before dissolution.

Fiduciary duties: agents owe loyalty and obedience; partners owe loyalty and care; directors owe care and loyalty; controlling shareholders owe fiduciary duties to minority shareholders.

LLC taxation: a single-member LLC is disregarded for federal tax purposes; a multi-member LLC is taxed as a partnership unless it elects corporate taxation.

Marriage: a valid marriage requires capacity (age, consent, no bigamy) and compliance with licensing and solemnization requirements; common-law marriage requires cohabitation, reputation, and present agreement in states that recognize it.

Divorce: no-fault divorce is available in all states; fault grounds include adultery, cruelty, desertion, and insanity; residency requirements vary; a divorce decree is valid only if the court has jurisdiction over the marriage and the parties.

Property division: equitable distribution divides marital property fairly, not necessarily equally; separate property includes premarital property, gifts, and inheritances; community property states divide community property equally.

Spousal support: factors include length of marriage, standard of living, earning capacity, and health; rehabilitative, permanent, and lump-sum awards are recognized; support terminates on death or remarriage in most jurisdictions.

Child custody: the best interests of the child standard governs; joint legal custody requires shared decision-making; physical custody determines residence; the tender years doctrine has been largely abandoned.

Child support: statutory guidelines consider income, number of children, and other factors; the Family Support Act and state guidelines require periodic review; support is modifiable on a substantial change in circumstances.

Adoption: requires termination of parental rights, consent of the biological parents, and a home study; stepparent adoption may waive the home study; consent may be revoked within a statutory period.

Paternity: a presumption of paternity arises from marriage, acknowledgment, or genetic testing; a putative father may rebut the presumption; the best interests of the child standard governs custody.

Domestic violence: protective orders may be issued ex parte with a hearing within a short period; violations may be criminal; the Violence Against Women Act provides federal remedies.

Intestacy: property passes to the surviving spouse and descendants under the state's statute; the spouse's share varies with the number of children; if no spouse or descendants, property passes to parents, siblings, or more remote relatives.

Wills: a valid will requires testamentary capacity, intent, and formalities (writing, signature, and witnesses); holographic wills are valid in some states if the material provisions are in the testator's handwriting; nuncupative wills are oral and limited.

Revocation: a will may be revoked by a subsequent will, physical act, or operation of law; a later will revokes an earlier one by inconsistency; divorce revokes provisions for the former spouse in many states.

Probate: the will must be admitted to probate; the personal representative administers the estate; creditors must file claims within the statutory period; nonprobate assets (life insurance, joint tenancy, retirement accounts) pass outside probate.

Trusts: a valid trust requires a settlor, trustee, beneficiary, trust property, and intent; a charitable trust must have a charitable purpose; a resulting trust arises from failure of an express trust; a constructive trust is a remedy for unjust enrichment.

Trustee duties: loyalty, prudence (Uniform Prudent Investor Act), impartiality, and accounting; a trustee may be liable for breach; exculpation clauses are enforceable unless they violate public policy.

Rule against perpetuities: no interest is valid unless it must vest, if at all, within 21 years after a life in being at the creation of the interest; states have adopted wait-and-see and cy pres reforms.

Powers of appointment: a general power allows appointment to the power holder, the estate, or creditors; a special power limits appointees; a takers in default clause provides for unappointed property.

Estate tax: the federal estate tax applies to estates exceeding the exemption amount; the unlimited marital deduction and charitable deduction reduce the taxable estate; portability allows a surviving spouse to use the deceased spouse's unused exclusion.

Attachment under UCC §9-203 requires value given, the debtor's rights in the collateral, and a security agreement authenticated by the debtor that describes the collateral; attachment gives the secured party rights against the debtor.

Perfection methods: filing a financing statement (UCC §9-310), possession, control (deposit accounts, investment property), automatic perfection (purchase-money security interest in consumer goods), and compliance with certificate-of-title statutes.

Priority: a perfected security interest prevails over an unperfected one; among perfected interests, the first to file or perfect prevails; a purchase-money security interest in goods has priority over a conflicting security interest if perfected within 20 days of the debtor's receipt of possession.

Financing statement: must include the debtor's name, the secured party's name, and an indication of the collateral; a seriously misleading error in the debtor's name makes the filing ineffective; the filing is effective for five years and may be continued.

Default and repossession: after default, the secured party may repossess collateral (self-help if no breach of the peace) or use judicial process; the debtor has a right to redeem by paying the obligation; a secured party must conduct a commercially reasonable sale and give notice.

Proceeds: a security interest continues in identifiable proceeds; commingled proceeds are identifiable to the extent the secured party can trace them; a secured party may claim proceeds in a deposit account.

Buyers in ordinary course: a buyer in ordinary course of business takes free of a security interest created by the seller, even if perfected, unless the buyer knows the sale violates the security agreement.

Fixtures: a security interest in fixtures may be perfected by a fixture filing; priority between a fixture filing and a real estate mortgage depends on the order of filing and the mortgage's interest.

Farm products and consumer goods: special rules apply; a buyer of farm products from a farmer takes free of a security interest unless the buyer receives notice; consumer goods perfection is automatic for purchase-money security interests.

Competence and diligence under Model Rules 1.1 and 1.3 require the legal knowledge, skill, thoroughness, and preparation reasonably necessary; a lawyer may take on a matter only if competent or able to become competent without unreasonable delay.

Confidentiality under Rule 1.6 protects information relating to the representation; disclosure is permitted to prevent reasonably certain death or substantial bodily harm, to prevent a client from committing a crime or fraud, or to comply with law or a court order.

Conflicts of interest under Rule 1.7: a concurrent conflict exists if representation of one client will be directly adverse to another or materially limited by responsibilities to another; the client may consent in writing if the lawyer reasonably believes competent and diligent representation is possible.

Former client conflicts under Rule 1.9: a lawyer may not represent a person in the same or a substantially related matter in which the person's interests are materially adverse to the former client unless the former client gives informed consent.

Fees under Rule 1.5 must be reasonable; contingent fees are prohibited in criminal cases and in domestic relations matters where the fee is contingent on securing a divorce or amount of support; fee agreements should be in writing.

Safekeeping property under Rule 1.15: client funds must be held in trust, commingled funds are prohibited, and advances for costs and expenses must be deposited in trust; disputed funds must be kept separate until resolved.

Candor to the tribunal under Rule 3.3: a lawyer may not knowingly make a false statement of fact or law, must correct false statements, and must disclose adverse legal authority not disclosed by opposing counsel.

Advertising and solicitation under Rules 7.1-7.3: communications must not be false or misleading; in-person solicitation for pecuniary gain is prohibited; targeted mail and electronic solicitation are permitted with disclaimers in some states.

Withdrawal under Rule 1.16: a lawyer must withdraw if representation will result in a violation of law or if the lawyer's physical or mental condition materially impairs representation; permissive withdrawal requires good cause and reasonable notice.