Maine Bar key terms

A court's power over a defendant, requiring minimum contacts with the forum state, fair play and substantial justice, and a basis such as domicile, consent, waiver, or service within the state.

The purposeful connection between a defendant and the forum state that makes exercising jurisdiction over that defendant fair; isolated or fortuitous contacts generally do not suffice.

A state law authorizing its courts to exercise jurisdiction over nonresident defendants who have specified connections to the state; it must also satisfy the federal Constitution.

A court's authority to hear a particular category of case, such as federal question or diversity cases in federal court; it cannot be waived and may be raised at any time.

Federal court authority over civil actions between citizens of different states or between a citizen and a foreign national, where the amount in controversy exceeds $75,000.

Federal court authority over civil actions arising under the Constitution, federal statutes, or treaties, determined from the well-pleaded complaint rather than anticipated defenses.

Federal court power over state-law claims that form part of the same case or controversy as a claim within the court's original jurisdiction, subject to discretionary dismissal in some diversity cases.

The rule that federal courts sitting in diversity apply state substantive law but may follow federal procedural rules, balancing federal interests against forum shopping and inequitable administration of the laws.

A pretrial ruling that resolves all or part of a case when no genuine dispute of material fact exists and the movant is entitled to judgment as a matter of law.

The requirement that a plaintiff have suffered an injury in fact that is concrete and particularized, fairly traceable to the defendant, and likely redressable by a favorable decision.

The requirement that a dispute be sufficiently developed and imminent to warrant judicial review, barring suits that rest on speculative or future harms.

The bar on hearing cases in which the controversy has ended, subject to exceptions such as voluntary cessation, capable of repetition yet evading review, and collateral consequences.

The principle that most constitutional guarantees restrict government conduct, so private conduct is generally not actionable unless it involves significant governmental entanglement or a public function.

The most demanding equal protection or due process test, requiring a compelling government interest and the least restrictive means; applied to suspect classifications and fundamental rights.

A mid-level test requiring an important government interest and a substantially related means; applied to sex-based classifications and certain other categories.

The most deferential test, upholding laws that are rationally related to a legitimate government interest; applied to economic regulation and non-suspect classifications.

Constitutional protection against government deprivation of life, liberty, or property without fair procedures (procedural) and against arbitrary substantive restrictions on fundamental rights (substantive).

The notice and opportunity to be heard required before government takes life, liberty, or property, with the procedures owed varying by the private interest, risk of error, and government burden.

A manifestation of present intent to be bound on definite terms, communicated to an identified offeree, that creates a power of acceptance.

A clear, unequivocal manifestation of assent to the terms of an offer, made in the manner the offer invites; the mirror image rule governs unless the UCC applies.

A bargained-for exchange of legal value, requiring a detriment to the promisee or a benefit to the promisor; past consideration and moral obligations generally do not qualify.

Enforcement of a promise without consideration when the promisor reasonably expected reliance, the promisee actually and justifiably relied, and injustice can be avoided only by enforcement.

A change of position in reliance on another's promise or representation, which may create liability or bar a party from asserting rights inconsistently with that reliance.

A rule barring admission of prior or contemporaneous oral or written statements to contradict or vary a fully integrated written agreement, subject to exceptions such as ambiguity and fraud.

A contract provision stating that the writing is the complete and final expression of the parties' agreement, which strengthens application of the parol evidence rule.

An event that must occur before a party's duty to perform arises; its nonoccurrence generally discharges the duty unless excused or the condition was wrongfully prevented.

A clear statement or act showing a party will not perform a contractual duty when due, allowing the nonbreaching party to treat the breach as immediate and sue or suspend performance.

An equitable remedy compelling a breaching party to perform as promised, available when damages are inadequate, typically for unique goods or land, and requiring clean hands and feasibility.

Government control over a person or interference with a person's possessory interests such that a reasonable person would not feel free to leave or would lose the item.

A particularized and objective basis, supported by specific facts, for suspecting criminal activity; it permits brief investigative stops and limited frisk searches.

The remedy suppressing evidence obtained through unconstitutional government action, subject to exceptions including good faith, inevitable discovery, attenuation, and independent source.

Advice of the right to remain silent and to counsel that police must give before custodial interrogation, with waiver required and invocation barring further questioning.

An out-of-court statement offered to prove the truth of the matter asserted, generally inadmissible unless an exception or exclusion applies.

A hearsay exception admitting a statement describing or explaining an event or condition made while or immediately after the declarant perceived it.

A declarant's earlier statement offered to rebut a charge of recent fabrication or improper influence, admissible as non-hearsay or under an exception when made before the motive arose.

Acquisition of title by open, notorious, exclusive, actual, and continuous possession hostile to the owner for the statutory period.

A nonpossessory right to use another's land for a specific purpose, created by grant, implication, necessity, or prescription, and capable of termination by abandonment or merger.

A state law determining priority among competing interests in land based on notice, race-notice, or race recording systems, protecting subsequent purchasers who record appropriately.

A doctrine treating violation of a statute as breach of duty when the plaintiff is within the class the statute protects and the harm is the type the statute aims to prevent.

The legal link between breach and harm requiring the injury to be a foreseeable result of the breach, excluding harm outside the risk that made the conduct negligent.

A system reducing a plaintiff's recovery in proportion to the plaintiff's own fault, in pure form or modified form barring recovery above a threshold percentage.

Liability without proof of fault for harm caused by a defective product sold in a defective condition unreasonably dangerous, where the defect existed at sale and caused the injury.

The Multistate Performance Test instruction assigning a practical lawyering task such as drafting a memo, brief, or letter, evaluated on organization, analysis, and use of the provided file and library.

The MPT's self-contained set of statutes, cases, and facts that supplies all governing law, so candidates must apply the provided authorities rather than outside knowledge.