Case Library
Civil Procedure case briefs
20 briefs in 7 topics. Each one gives the facts, issue and holding, IRAC and CREAC versions, key quotes with pinpoint pages and the citation in the book’s form.
Personal jurisdiction
Personal jurisdiction on its own pagePennoyer v. Neff
Pennoyer v. Neff, 95 U.S. 714 (1878).
Can a state court enter a personal judgment that binds a non-resident defendant who was served only by publication and never appeared?
Supreme Court of the United States
International Shoe Co. v. Washington
Int’l Shoe Co. v. Washington, 326 U.S. 310 (1945).
Did International Shoe's activities in Washington make it answerable, consistent with the due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, to a proceeding in Washington to collect unpaid contributions to the state unemployment fund?
Supreme Court of the United States
Shaffer v. Heitner
Shaffer v. Heitner, 433 U.S. 186 (1977).
Must a State's assertion of jurisdiction based on a defendant's property in the State, in rem or quasi in rem, meet the minimum-contacts standard of International Shoe?
Supreme Court of the United States
World-Wide Volkswagen Corp. v. Woodson
World-Wide Volkswagen Corp. v. Woodson, 444 U.S. 286 (1980).
Does the Due Process Clause allow an Oklahoma court to exercise in personam jurisdiction over a New York car dealer and its regional distributor when their only connection with Oklahoma is that a car sold in New York to New York residents was in an accident there?
Supreme Court of the United States
Burger King Corp. v. Rudzewicz
Burger King Corp. v. Rudzewicz, 471 U.S. 462 (1985).
Did the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment allow the Florida federal court to exercise personal jurisdiction over Rudzewicz, a Michigan franchisee, in Burger King's suit claiming he failed to make required franchise payments in Florida?
Supreme Court of the United States
Asahi Metal Industry Co. v. Superior Court
Asahi Metal Indus. Co. v. Superior Court, 480 U.S. 102 (1987).
Does a foreign manufacturer establish minimum contacts with a State merely because it sells components abroad knowing that the stream of commerce will carry some of them into that State?
Supreme Court of the United States
Burnham v. Superior Court
Burnham v. Superior Court, 495 U.S. 604 (1990).
Does the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment bar a state court from exercising jurisdiction over a nonresident who was personally served with process while briefly in the State, in a suit unrelated to his activities there?
Supreme Court of the United States
Daimler AG v. Bauman
Daimler AG v. Bauman, 571 U.S. 117 (2014).
Does the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment allow courts in California to exercise general jurisdiction over Daimler, a German company, on claims by foreign plaintiffs about conduct that took place entirely outside the United States, based on the California contacts of its American subsidiary?
Supreme Court of the United States
Ford Motor Co. v. Montana Eighth Judicial District Court
Ford Motor Co. v. Mont. Eighth Jud. Dist. Court, 592 U.S. 351 (2021).
Does specific jurisdiction require a strict causal link between the defendant's forum contacts and the plaintiff's claims?
Supreme Court of the United States
Goodyear Dunlop Tires Operations, S.A. v. Brown
Goodyear Dunlop Tires Operations, S.A. v. Brown, 564 U.S. 915 (2011).
Can North Carolina courts exercise general jurisdiction over foreign subsidiaries of a United States company, on claims unrelated to any activity of the subsidiaries in the State, because some of their tires reached the State through the stream of commerce?
Supreme Court of the United States
Notice and service
Notice and service on its own pageMullane v. Central Hanover Bank & Trust Co.
Mullane v. Cent. Hanover Bank & Tr. Co., 339 U.S. 306 (1950).
Can a New York court settle a common trust fund's accounts in a decree that binds beneficiaries who live outside the State and were not personally served?
Supreme Court of the United States
Subject-matter jurisdiction
Subject-matter jurisdiction on its own pageLouisville and Nashville Railroad Co. v. Mottley
Louisville & Nashville R.R. Co. v. Mottley, 211 U.S. 149 (1908).
Did the federal Circuit Court have jurisdiction over Mottley's suit as one arising under the Constitution and laws of the United States, when the federal questions in the case were whether the 1906 act barred performance of the contract and whether that act violated the Fifth Amendment?
Supreme Court of the United States
United Mine Workers of America v. Gibbs
United Mine Workers of Am. v. Gibbs, 383 U.S. 715 (1966).
Did the District Court have power to decide Gibbs's Tennessee claim together with his § 303 claims when there was no diversity jurisdiction, and did it exceed its discretion by deciding that claim?
Supreme Court of the United States
The Erie doctrine
The Erie doctrine on its own pageErie Railroad Co. v. Tompkins
Erie R.R. Co. v. Tompkins, 304 U.S. 64 (1938).
In a federal suit between citizens of different States, may the federal court disregard a State's common law, as declared by its highest court, and use its own independent judgment on questions of general law, as Swift v. Tyson allowed?
Supreme Court of the United States
Hanna v. Plumer
Hanna v. Plumer, 380 U.S. 460 (1965).
In a federal diversity action, is the adequacy of service of process measured by Federal Rule 4(d)(1) or by a state statute that requires in-hand service on an executor?
Supreme Court of the United States
Pleading
Pleading on its own pageBell Atlantic Corp. v. Twombly
Bell Atl. Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544 (2007).
Does a section 1 Sherman Act complaint survive a motion to dismiss when it alleges parallel conduct by competitors but no factual context suggesting agreement, as distinct from identical, independent action?
Supreme Court of the United States
Ashcroft v. Iqbal
Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662 (2009).
Did the Court of Appeals have jurisdiction to review, before final judgment, a district court order that rejected qualified immunity by denying a motion to dismiss for insufficient pleading?
Supreme Court of the United States
Conley v. Gibson
Conley v. Gibson, 355 U.S. 41 (1957).
Did the National Railroad Adjustment Board have exclusive jurisdiction over a suit by employees charging their own bargaining agent with racial discrimination in representing them?
Supreme Court of the United States
Summary judgment
Summary judgment on its own pageCelotex Corp. v. Catrett
Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317 (1986).
Must a party moving for summary judgment support its motion with affidavits or other evidence negating the opponent's claim?
Supreme Court of the United States
Preclusion
Preclusion on its own pageParklane Hosiery Co. v. Shore
Parklane Hosiery Co. v. Shore, 439 U.S. 322 (1979).
May a plaintiff who was not a party to a prior action use that judgment offensively to estop a defendant from relitigating issues it lost?
Supreme Court of the United States