Cases and Materials on Civil Procedure
Files
Description
Organization and Methodology. This book is mostly traditional in approach. It is organized along the lines of the events in a lawsuit, beginning with service of process and establishment of the court’s jurisdiction, and proceeding through post-trial motions and appeals. For the most part, it uses the traditional case method. Law professors will recognize most of the “old favorite” cases, including venerable decisions such as Pennoyer v. Neff, modern classics such as Burger King Corp. v. Rudzewicz, and many others in between. One of the purposes of this Edition is to update such matters as supplemental jurisdiction, personal jurisdiction, diversity, removal, venue, disclosure, class actions and other issues, which have changed significantly in recent years. In some instances, the changes have required reorganization, to make the material clear and accessible. Special Feature. However, there is more to the book than traditional organization and approach. The following is a description of some of the special features that we have included. An Introduction to the Practice of Civil Litigation through Actual Litigation Documents. In addition to traditional case materials, the book include documents from actual litigation. Complaints and answers, motions, briefs, orders, and in the discovery chapter, a short deposition, are all excerpted for the student to see and study. We also have a set of self-initiated disclosures adapted from a real case. In some instances, a series of related papers tells the story of the underlying litigation. For example, Chapter 2 ends with an appendix containing all of the major papers in a typical forum contest. Likewise, Chapter 9 contains the documents presented by both sides in a typical summary judgement proceeding. (We also think students will be fascinated with Chapter 10, which contains excerpts from the jury selection, court’s charge, and final arguments in Pennzoil Co. v. Texaco Inc.—the case that produced the largest jury verdict in history.) We believe that these “real world” materials will help the student to understand the theory of civil procedure better, as well as providing insights into what litigators do. Problems, Including “Chapter Summary Problems.” Most of the chapters contain problems. For the most part, the problems in the first four chapters are simple. In this difficult course, it sometimes happens that a complex problem is not as helpful to the real goal of student understanding as a simpler one that clearly illustrates the application of the principles the student has learned. In later chapters, some of the problems are more difficult. In addition, the Second Edition contains “Chapter Summary Problems” for most chapters. These more comprehensive problems call for composite knowledge of the difficult parts of each chapter, requiring the student to “put the chapter together” and to apply what she has learned. These Chapter Summary Problems are placed early in the chapter, encouraging the student to think about the issues beforehand; but they can be answered only after the student has confronted the materials in the chapter. Thus the Second Edition allows the professor the flexibility to use a true “problem approach”—or, if she desires, she may simply omit one or all of these Chapter Summary Problems and employ traditional methods. “Improving the Systems”: Introducing Theoretical Issues at the Cutting Edge of the Law, Including Alternate Dispute Resolution. We would not be content, however, with introducing the student to current practice. A good lawyer needs to be able to grow with the law. In fact, he or she needs to think ahead of the current state of the law. Therefore, we have included sections in most chapters entitled “Improving the System.” We think these sections will help the student to think critically about current practice. And there is a benefit in looking at proposed improvement as a group. Our experience indicates that this method encourages deeper thought about the purposes of the Rules of Civil Procedure. Furthermore, the last chapter contains thorough coverage of alternate dispute resolution (“ADR”) methods (mediation, settlement, arbitration, conciliation, etc.) that have become prevalent recently. A “User Friendly” Book. Above all, we have tried to produce a book that makes the fundamental easy for the student to grasp. Although Civil Procedure may be the most difficult course in the first-year curriculum (we have no illusions of making it truly simple), we have done our best to make our book “user friendly.”
Publication Date
1998
Edition
3
Recommended Citation
Crump, David; Dorsaneo, William V. III; Chase, Oscar G.; and Perschbacher, Rex R., "Cases and Materials on Civil Procedure" (1998). Faculty Books & Edited Works. 88.
https://gretchen.law.nyu.edu/fac-books-edited-works/88
