Ca Bar Exam: Civil Procedure

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What is Personal Jurisdiction?

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Personal Jurisdiction refers to the ability of a court to exercise power over a particular defendant or item of property. It may be categorized as in personam, in rem, or quasi in rem. The primary limitation on a court's power to exercise personal jurisdiction are found in the US Const & State Statutes

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What are the four main areas which encompass the federal courts subject matter jurisdiction?

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(1) Diversity of Citizenship Jurisdiction
(2) Federal question jurisdiction
(3) Removal Jurisdiction
(4) Supplemental Jurisdiction

Front 3

Explain the Diversity of Citizenship Jurisdictional requirements in federal courts.

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Diversity of citizenship jurisdiction under 28 USC section 1332 is grounded historically in the desire to protect out-of-state parties from local prejudice. Its main requirement is that there be complete diversity b/w opposing parties. Each plaintiff must be of diverse citizenship from each Defendant. Amount in controversy must be +75k

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removal jurisdiction

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removal jurisdiction allows defendants to remove an action brought in state court to a fed court if the federal court would have had original jurisdiction over the action

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supplemental jurisdiction

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The doctrine of supplemental jurisdiction is codified under FRCP 1367 and includes the both "ancillary" and "pendent" jurisdiction. In any form, supplemental jurisdiction allows a fed. ct to entertain certain claims over which it would have no ind. basis of SMJ (ie claims that do not satisfy diversity or FQ jurisdiction). It is important to note that SJ operates only after a claim has invoked fed subject matter jurisdiction, after the case is properly in fed ct. Supplemental juris operates to bring additional claims into that case that arise from the the same "transaction or occurrence" as the original claim, but cannot be sued to get the case into fed ct in the first instance

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VENUE

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Venue is the designation of the proper district in which to bring an action.

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What is subject matter jurisdiction?

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subject matter jurisdiction is the courts power to hear particular types of cases.

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Personal Jurisdiction

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Personal jurisdiction involves the ability of a court having subject matter jurisdiction to exercise power over a particular defendant or item of property.

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Sources of the limitations on personal jurisdiction:

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Limitations on a court's personal jurisdiction arise from two sources: (1) state statutes and (2) the US Constitution. An exercise of personal jurisdiction must not exceed the limitations imposed by either source.

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Constitutional Limitations on Personal Jurisdiction:

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The Due Process clause of the US Constitution places two restrictions on the exercise of personal jurisdiction. (1) minimum contacts with the forum state such that the exercise of jurisdiction would be fair and reasonable and (2) the defendant must be given appropriate notice of the action and opportunity to be heard.

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when does in personal jurisdiction exist?

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in personam jurisdiction exists when the forum has power over the person of a particular defendant. (Note: jurisdiction over the plaintiff usu. not an issue b/c the plaintiff accedes to the court's jurisdiction by bring suit in that court.)

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when a court has personal jurisdiction over a defendant, what does that entitle the court to do?

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When a court has PJ over a defendant then the court may render a money judgment against the defendant or may order the defendant to perform acts or refrain from acting. Such a judgment creates a personal obligation on the defendant. Additionally, this obligation is given "full faith and credit" in all other states, i.e. if a defendant is ordered to pay a sum of money to a plaintiff, the plaintiff may enforce the judgment against the defendant's property in any other state where the property is located.