PA Bar flashcards

32 cards. Read the term and the definition here. The deck at the top of this page is optional.

Subject-Matter Jurisdiction

Federal courts need a statutory grant; § 1331 covers federal questions appearing on the face of a well-pleaded complaint, and § 1332 requires complete diversity plus an amount in controversy exceeding $75,000.

Supplemental Jurisdiction

Section 1367 extends federal jurisdiction to claims sharing a common nucleus of operative fact with an anchor claim, but not to claims by plaintiffs against nondiverse parties when the anchor is a diversity claim.

Removal Deadline

A defendant must file the notice of removal within 30 days of service of the initial pleading; a diversity case may not be removed more than one year after commencement absent bad-faith joinder.

Erie Doctrine

In diversity cases federal courts apply state substantive law and federal procedural rules; if a Federal Rule directly conflicts with state practice, Hanna asks whether the Rule is valid under the Rules Enabling Act.

Strict Scrutiny

The government must show a compelling interest and narrow tailoring; the test applies to suspect classifications such as race and national origin and to fundamental rights such as voting and interstate travel.

Dormant Commerce Clause

State laws discriminating against interstate commerce face strict scrutiny and must serve a legitimate local purpose that cannot be achieved by reasonable nondiscriminatory alternatives.

Standing Elements

A plaintiff must show an injury in fact that is concrete, particularized, and actual or imminent, traceable to the defendant's conduct, and redressable by a favorable court decision.

State Action Doctrine

Constitutional rights generally restrain only government conduct; private action becomes state action through public function, significant entanglement, or joint participation with the state.

UCC 2-207 Battle of Forms

A definite and seasonable expression of acceptance forms a contract even with additional terms; between merchants those terms enter the contract unless they materially alter it or the offer limits acceptance.

Statute of Frauds Categories

Writing is required for promises involving marriage, performance beyond one year, land, executor liability, suretyship, and UCC goods of $500 or more, subject to part-performance and admission exceptions.

Expectation Damages

The nonbreaching party receives the benefit of the bargain, measured by the value of performance promised minus the value received, plus incidental and foreseeable consequential losses.

Anticipatory Repudiation

A clear and unequivocal refusal to perform before the due date allows the nonbreaching party to treat the contract as breached immediately and sue without waiting.

Felony Murder Rule

A killing during the commission of an inherently dangerous felony is murder, even without intent to kill; the defendant must be guilty of the underlying felony and the death must be foreseeable.

Miranda Custody Requirement

Warnings are required only for custodial interrogation; custody exists when a reasonable person would not feel free to leave, and interrogation includes words or actions likely to elicit incriminating responses.

Attempt Elements

Attempt requires specific intent to commit the target crime plus a substantial step beyond mere preparation; legal impossibility is a defense while factual impossibility generally is not.

Search Incident to Arrest

Police may search the arrestee's person and the area within the arrestee's immediate control to prevent destruction of evidence and to protect officer safety, without a warrant.

Hearsay Definition

An out-of-court statement offered to prove the truth of the matter asserted; if offered for another purpose, such as effect on the listener, it is not hearsay.

Excited Utterance

A statement relating to a startling event made while the declarant is under the stress of excitement is admissible regardless of whether the declarant is available to testify.

Confrontation Clause

Testimonial statements by an unavailable declarant are inadmissible unless the defendant had a prior opportunity to cross-examine; nontestimonial statements fall outside the Crawford rule.

Rule 403 Balancing

Relevant evidence may be excluded when its probative value is substantially outweighed by unfair prejudice, confusion of issues, misleading the jury, undue delay, or cumulative presentation.

Fee Simple Determinable

An estate that ends automatically when a stated event occurs and reverts to the grantor; words of duration such as 'so long as' or 'while' create it.

Recording Acts

Race statutes protect the first to record; notice statutes protect a subsequent purchaser without notice; race-notice statutes protect a subsequent purchaser without notice who records first.

Adverse Possession Elements

Actual, open and notorious, exclusive, continuous, and hostile possession for the statutory period; tacking requires privity and color of title may shorten the required period.

Implied Warranty of Habitability

Residential leases carry a promise that the premises are fit for human habitation; breach permits rent withholding, repair and deduct, or termination, and retaliatory eviction is barred.

Negligence Elements

Duty, breach, actual cause, proximate cause, and damages; the standard is the reasonable person unless a special standard applies to children, professionals, or landowners.

Premises Liability Tiers

Trespassers receive protection only from willful or wanton harm; licensees must be warned of known concealed dangers; invitees receive reasonable inspection and repair of latent defects.

Defamation Actual Malice

Public officials and public figures must prove knowledge of falsity or reckless disregard for the truth; private figures need only prove negligence for actual damages.

Products Liability Theories

A manufacturer may be liable for manufacturing defects, design defects, or failure to warn; strict liability applies to defective products that are unreasonably dangerous to users.

Dead Man's Rule

Pennsylvania bars an interested survivor from testifying about transactions with a decedent in litigation against the estate, unless the estate waives the protection by introducing the survivor's statements.

PA IOLTA Trust Account

Under the Pennsylvania Rules of Professional Conduct, client funds must be held in a separate trust account, may not be commingled with the lawyer's funds, and must be promptly disbursed.

PA Elective Share

Pennsylvania protects a surviving spouse against disinheritance by permitting an election to take a statutory share of the decedent's estate in lieu of the will's provisions.

PA Comparative Negligence

Pennsylvania applies modified comparative negligence, barring a plaintiff's recovery when the plaintiff's negligence is greater than the defendant's; joint and several liability is retained for certain claims.