CIVIL PROCEDURE (SEMESTER 1, 1L YEAR) EXAM 2025
Important way in which the constitution shapes litigation: Jurisdiction - Precise Answer ✔✔In civil
procedure, "jurisdiction" is mainly referring to judicial jurisdiction...the power of a court to render a
judgement that other courts and governments will reconize and conforce.
- Subject matter and personal are the two main types of jurisdiction. Both are necessary for any court's
power to render a binding decison in a case.
- 3 parts of the Consitution influence jurisdiciton:
1. article 3 authorizes the establishment of a system of federal courts and sets the limits of federal
judicial authority.
2. Article 4 requires that "full faith and credit be given in each state to judicial proceedings of every other
state." SCOTUS has interpreted this clause that one state must reconize and enforce judgements of other
states. Ex. If a GA court enters a judgement for 100,000 against Bank of America but the plantiff cannot
find any assets of D within GA to satisfy the judgement, all their assets being in NC, the Full Faith and
Credit Clause of Article 4, the plantiff commences a summary proceeding in a court in NC, records GA's
judgement, and can then obtain a writ of execution from NC's court encoring GA's judgement. against in
assets of BOA located in NC
3. 14th amendment syas no state shall deprive any person of life, libery, or property witjout due process.
Constitution and Choice of Law - Precise Answer ✔✔Constitution shapes US litigation by dictating which
set of laws a court must apply to a dispute. Dicates choice of law in two key ways
1. Article 6 says Consitution and federal laws shall be the supreme law of the land and the judges in
every state shall be bound thereby, anything in the consitiutoin or the laws of the state thereby
notwithstanding. This is the supremeacy clause. If congress enacts a statute dealing with a particular
subject, both federal and state courts are required to enforce the federal statute, regardless of whether
there is a contrry state statute or state common law rule.
2. In the absence of a federal controllign statute, the federal court system is required to respect both the
statutory and common law rules of the several states. Ex. If a dispute with a California landlord found its
way to a federal court, which law would the court apply to its dispute?
Personal Jurisdiction - Precise Answer ✔✔Personal jurisdiction concerns a state's ability to assert power
over a defendant in a civil law suit. It became part of consitutional law because of Pennoyer vs Neff.
Background info
- Difficult part of a lawsuit is when a victorius plantiff tries to collect the judgement from the defendant,
who declines to pay. They pay then obtain a writ of execution from the court, which authorizes the
