Monday, Aug. 27

Civil Procedure Law 102Section 3

Field, Kaplan and Clermont, Civil Procedure - Materials for a Basic

Course, Concise 10th edition (2011)

Glannon, Examples & Explanations: Civil Procedure, 6th

edition (2008)

Federal Courts Jurisdiction and Venue Clarification Act of 2011,

Pub. L. No. 112-63 (Dec. 7, 2011)

No laptops!

What is civil procedure?

procedure v. substancecivil v. criminal

Why is civil procedure so hard?

not familiar with activity being legally regulated

interdependencies

regulatory/statutory

dynamic

structure of legal system is central

Why is civil procedure so important?

“I'll let you write the substance...you let me write the

procedure, and I'll screw you every time.”

Rep. John Dingell, Jr.

three themes

balancing:

upholding the substantive rule of law party autonomy,

andefficiency

structure of American legal system

statutory interpretation

starting a lawsuit

drafting a complaint

Structure of Court Systems

Federal Court System• U.S. Supreme Court• U.S. Court of Appeals– E.g. 3rd Circuit

• U.S. District Court– E.g. E.D. Pa.

Virginia Court System• Virginia Supreme Court• Court of Appeal• Circuit Court (also

General District Court)

Rule 10. Form of Pleadings Caption; Names of Parties. Every pleading must have a caption with the court’s name, a title, a file number, and a Rule 7(a) designation. The title of the complaint must name all the parties; the title of other pleadings, after naming the first party on each side, may refer generally to other parties.

Rule 10(b)Paragraphs; Separate Statements. A party must state its claims or defenses in numbered paragraphs, each limited as far as practicable to a single set of circumstances. A later pleading may refer by number to a paragraph in an earlier pleading. If doing so would promote clarity, each claim founded on a separate transaction or occurrence — and each defense other than a denial — must be stated in a separate count or defense.

- Rule 8. General Rules of Pleading

(a) Claim for Relief. A pleading that states a claim for relief must contain:(1) a short and plain statement of the grounds for the court’s jurisdiction, unless the court already has jurisdiction and the claim needs no new jurisdictional support;(2) a short and plain statement of the claim showing that the pleader is entitled to relief; and(3) a demand for the relief sought, which may include relief in the alternative or different types of relief.

stating a claim

D had a duty of a care for PD breached the duty of care (was negligent)P suffered damages D’s negligence was proximate cause of P’s damages

P was not contributorily negligent?