LAW - 501 Civil Procedure

(4 hrs.)

An introduction to legal standards and procedural rules governing civil litigation in the United States, with a focus on federal courts. Topics include: due process standards for notice and for the timing, nature extent of deprivation procedures; the authority of a court to hear and resolve claims based on its power over a person (personal jurisdiction) and specific categories of claims that can be decided in federal court (subject matter jurisdiction); the priniciples concerning the application of state law in federal courts; rules for removing cases from state to federal court; and a survey of the Federal Rights of Civil Procedure including rules governing service of process, pleading, joinder of claims and parties, frivolous claims, discovery, pre-trial resolution of claims, jury selection and basic rules for civil trials, claim and issue preclusion, and post-trial procedures.