Civil Procedure
Civil Procedure
Civil Procedure tests the path from filing to final judgment: jurisdiction, pleadings, service, discovery, dispositive motions, trial, appeal, and preclusion. The exam asks whether a court can hear the case and whether a judgment will bind the parties later.
Core rules
- Subject-matter jurisdiction: The court’s power over the type of claim; cannot be waived by the parties and may be raised at any time.
- Personal jurisdiction: Power over the defendant, based on domicile, consent, waiver, or minimum contacts satisfying fair play and substantial justice.
- Venue and service: Venue is the proper geographic court; service must satisfy statutory methods and constitutional notice.
- Pleadings and motions: Notice pleading or fact pleading must state a claim; failure to state a claim, lack of jurisdiction, and improper venue are common pre-answer motions.
- Discovery: Parties must disclose relevant, non-privileged material; courts limit proportional burden.
- Summary judgment: No genuine dispute of material fact and movant entitled to judgment as a matter of law.
- Preclusion: Claim preclusion bars the same claim between the same parties; issue preclusion bars relitigation of an actually litigated, necessarily decided issue.
Worked example
P sues D in State A for breach of contract after negotiating by email with D in State B. D moves to dismiss for lack of personal jurisdiction. The court asks whether D purposefully availed itself of State A’s market, whether the claim arises from that contact, and whether jurisdiction is reasonable. A single email may be a contact, but a contract with a State A resident alone often does not satisfy purposeful availment. If D shipped goods into State A and targeted customers there, jurisdiction is stronger. Lack of personal jurisdiction is waivable if not raised in the first response.
Traps
Do not confuse subject-matter jurisdiction with personal jurisdiction: only the former is non-waivable. Do not treat venue as jurisdiction. Do not oppose summary judgment with conclusory affidavits. For preclusion, identify the same claim or issue and the same parties or privies; a non-party generally is not bound.