I85PREP
⌘ K
NC Bar study materials
NC Bar study resources

NC Bar: Civil Procedure on the NC Bar

NC Bar · Work through your exam, one topic at a time.

All guide sections

Civil Procedure on the NC Bar

Civil Procedure on the NC Bar (a UBE jurisdiction since 2019) tests the Federal Rules in federal-question and diversity settings, with a handful of North Carolina overlays. Expect personal and subject-matter jurisdiction, venue, pleading, joinder, discovery, summary judgment, and preclusion; essays often pair a procedural device with a substantive claim.

Jurisdiction and venue

  • Subject-matter jurisdiction is nonwaivable. Diversity requires complete diversity plus an amount in controversy exceeding $75,000, exclusive of interest and costs; the plaintiff's good-faith claim controls unless recovery is legally impossible.
  • Personal jurisdiction: contacts, relatedness, fairness (International Shoe; Burger King). General jurisdiction after Daimler and Goodyear means essentially the state of incorporation and principal place of business.
  • Venue: where any defendant resides (if all reside in one state), where a substantial part of the events occurred, or where the property sits. Transfer under 28 U.S.C. 1404 (convenience) versus 1406 (defective venue).

Erie

In diversity, federal courts apply state substantive law - elements, limitations periods, burdens, damages rules - and the Federal Rules on procedure. An outcome-determinative state rule with no federal counterpart controls under Erie and Hanna.

Worked example

A North Carolina plaintiff sues a Delaware corporation headquartered in Ohio in the Eastern District of North Carolina for $120,000 arising from a Raleigh collision. Subject-matter jurisdiction is satisfied by complete diversity plus the amount. Specific personal jurisdiction exists because the in-state accident is the source of the claim. Venue lies where the events occurred. The court applies North Carolina negligence law, including contributory negligence as a complete bar.

Traps

Confusing 1404 transfer with forum non conveniens dismissal; forgetting that a diversity court applies state damages and fault-allocation rules; invoking supplemental jurisdiction where the claims share no common nucleus of operative fact; overlooking that a defendant who removes based on diversity cannot be a citizen of the forum state.