I85PREP
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IN SW Juris study materials
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IN SW Juris: Civil Procedure

IN SW Juris · Work through your exam, one topic at a time.

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Civil Procedure

Civil Procedure on this exam tests whether you can move a case through the court system: personal jurisdiction, subject-matter jurisdiction, venue, pleading, joinder, discovery, dispositive motions, trial, and preclusion. Use the FRCP numbering and the constitutional minimum-contacts analysis.

Core rules

  • Personal jurisdiction: general jurisdiction where the defendant is essentially at home (domicile, principal place of business); specific jurisdiction requires purposeful availment, relatedness, and fair play. Indiana's long-arm reaches the constitutional limit.
  • Subject-matter jurisdiction: federal question under 28 U.S.C. § 1331; diversity under § 1332 requires complete diversity and more than $75,000; supplemental jurisdiction under § 1367.
  • Venue under 28 U.S.C. § 1391; removal under §§ 1441 and 1446, with the one-year limit for diversity and the in-state-defendant rule.
  • Pleadings: notice pleading; Rule 12(b)(6) plausibility; affirmative defenses under Rule 8(c); waiver under Rule 12(h).
  • Joinder: Rule 19 necessary parties, Rule 20 permissive, Rule 13 counterclaims, Rule 14 third-party claims, Rule 24 intervention, Rule 23 class actions.
  • Discovery: Rule 26(b)(1) relevance and proportionality; work product; sanctions under Rule 37.
  • Disposition: Rule 56 summary judgment; Rule 50 judgment as a matter of law; Rule 59 new trial.
  • Preclusion: claim preclusion requires the same transaction; issue preclusion requires actual litigation.

Worked example

An Ohio plaintiff sues an Indiana LLC and a Texas corporation for $100,000. Diversity is checked by the LLC members' citizenship, not the LLC's state of organization; if any member is Ohio, complete diversity fails. If all members are Indiana or Texas, diversity exists and the amount exceeds $75,000. Indiana venue is proper where the LLC resides. Specific jurisdiction is proper only if the defendants purposefully availed themselves of Indiana and the claim arises from those contacts.

Traps

Do not assume an LLC is a citizen of its formation state. Do not use supplemental jurisdiction to override a lack of diversity. Removal based on diversity is barred after one year and by in-state defendants. Erie requires federal courts to apply state substantive law.