Legal Agenda: Federal Jurisdiction, Venue, and Consent in Civil Cases, Slides of Civil procedure

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Agenda for 25th Class

• Name plates out
• Venue
• Mock mediation.
  • LLV conflict

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Next Class – Federal Q Jurisdiction

• Under the FRCP as it exists today
  • If plaintiff had drafted a “well pleaded complaint,” what would have been the key allegations of that complaint?
  • If plaintiff had drafted a well-pleaded complaint, what paper would defendant have filed in response? What would have been the key elements of that paper?
  • How would plaintiff have raised the unconstitutionality the Act of Congress which the defendant alleges prohibited giving the passes that the railroad gave the Mottleys?
  • If defendant’s answer had admitted that it had given passes to the Mottleys, but argued that they were invalid, what motion would the plaintiff have had to make in order to get the Court to grant the Mottleys the relief they requested without discovery or trial?
• Yeazell pp. 199ff Qs 2, 3, 4b,
• Under 28 USC 1441(a) & (b), if plaintiff had brought the two cases at issue in Yeazell p. 199 Q2 in state court, which of the two cases could defendant remove to federal district court?
• Optional -- Glannon Chapter 4 (Federal question subject matter jurisdiction), Chapter 1 (Personal Jurisdiction), 2(statutes and the constitution), 8 (Venue)Docsity.com

Internet and Consent

• Internet

– Handout Problems 2-19 & 2-

• Consent

– Consent was basis for jurisdiction before

International Shoe and remains a valid basis

– 2 kinds of consent

• Ex post. Consent at time of litigation. Not controversial
• Ex ante. Choice of forum clause.
  • Carnival Cruise (1991). Yeazell p. 149 » Clause will almost always be valid » Possible exceptions for “fundamental fairness” » E.g. clause which had purpose of discouraging litigation or which was procured by fraud or overreaching. Docsity.com

Venue

• Venue means what court within a state
  • Federal court: CD of Cal (LA) or SD of Cal (San Diego)
  • State court: LA Superior Court of San Diego Superior Court
• Purely statutory matter. Not constitutional
• Each state has its own statute
• Federal statute is 28 USC 1391
• Map of federal districts
  • http://www.uscourts.gov/uscourts/images/CircuitMap.pdf

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Moving Cases Around

• From one federal court to another
  • 28 USC 1404 says cases may be transferred “to any other district .. Where it might have been brought” “for the convenience of the parties and witnesses, in the interest of justice.” Even if venue was proper in the first place
  • 28 USC 1406 says that court can transfer case if venue was improper in the first place. - Without statute, one might think that the court didn’t have power to do anything
• No comparable ability to transfer case between judicial systems
  • E.g. from one state court to a court in a different state or foreign country
  • E.g. from federal court to state court or to court in foreign country
  • E.g. from from state court to federal court
    • Removal is different from transfer, because transfer is ordered by judge in original venue, whereas removal does not require consent of state court judge
• If judge thinks that her court has jurisdiction, but that a court in a different state or country would be better, the judge must dismiss the case - Forum non conveniens Docsity.com

Venue Questions

• Pp. 175ff. Qs 1,2,4a,b,d (ignore the reference to 28 USC 1392)
• Briefly Summarize Dee-K Enterprises
• P. 176 Q5; pp. 178ff Q1a, 2
• Briefly summarize Piper Aircraft
  • In your summary, please incorporate answers to pp. 186ff Qs1, 4,
• Suppose a chemical plant in India owned by an American company leaks gas into the surrounding neighborhood and kills 16,000 people and injures half a million. The victims sue in US court. Defendants move for dismissal on the basis of forum non conveniens. The plaintiffs argue that dismissal is inappropriate, because Indian courts require a filing fee equal to 5% of damages claimed, which in this case could be billions of dollars. There are long delays in Indian courts. Indian courts have very few tort precedents and none relevant to mass torts. Discovery is usually very narrow, if allowed at all. Should the court grant the forum non conveniens motion? If it does, are there any conditions it should attach?

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