Jurisdiction Commons^™

Class Actions, Statutes Of Limitations And Repose, And Federal Common Law, Stephen B. Burbank, Tobias Barrington Wolff

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After more than three decades during which it gave the issue scant attention, the Supreme Court has again made the American Pipe doctrine an active part of its docket. American Pipe addresses the tolling of statutes of limitations in federal class action litigation. When plaintiffs file a putative class action in federal court and class certification is denied, absent members of the putative class may wish to pursue their claims in some kind of further proceeding. If the statute of limitations would otherwise have expired while the class certification issue was being resolved, these claimants may need the benefit of …

Choice Of Law And Jurisdictional Policy In The Federal Courts, Tobias Barrington Wolff

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For seventy-five years, Klaxon v. Stentor Electric Manufacturing has provided a one-line answer to choice-of-law questions in federal diversity cases: Erie requires the federal court to employ the same law that a court of the state would select. The simplicity of the proposition likely accounts for the unqualified breadth with which federal courts now apply it. Choice of law doctrine is difficult, consensus in hard cases is elusive, and the anxiety that Erie produces over the demands of federalism tends to stifle any reexamination of core assumptions. The attraction of a simple answer is obvious. But Klaxon cannot bear the …

“Spooky Action At A Distance”: Intangible Injury In Fact In The Information Age, Seth F. Kreimer

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Two decades after Justice Douglas coined “injury in fact” as the token of admission to federal court under Article III, Justice Scalia sealed it into the constitutional canon in Lujan v. Defenders of Wildlife. In the two decades since Lujan, Justice Scalia has thrown increasingly pointed barbs at the permissive standing doctrine of the Warren Court, maintaining it is founded on impermissible recognition of “Psychic Injury.” Justice Scalia and his acolytes take the position that Article III requires a tough minded, common sense and practical approach. Injuries in fact must be "tangible" "direct" "concrete" "de facto" realities in time and …

Scott V. Harris And The Future Of Summary Judgment, Tobias Barrington Wolff

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The Supreme Court’s decision in Scott v. Harris has quickly become a staple in many Civil Procedure courses, and small wonder. The cinematic high-speed car chase complete with dash-cam video and the Court’s controversial treatment of that video evidence seem tailor-made for classroom discussion. As is often true with instant classics, however, splashy first impressions can mask a more complex state of affairs. At the heart of Scott v. Harris lies the potential for a radical doctrinal reformation: a shift in the core summary judgment standard undertaken to justify a massive expansion of interlocutory appellate jurisdiction in qualified immunity cases. …

Multiple Attempts At Class Certification, Tobias Barrington Wolff

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The phenomenon of multiple attempts at class certification -- when class counsel file the same putative class action in multiple successive courts and attempt to secure an order of certification despite previous denials of the same request -- has always presented a vexing analytical puzzle. When the Supreme Court rejected one proposed solution to that problem in Smith v. Bayer, it left unresolved some of the broader questions of preclusion doctrine, federal common law, and the constraints of due process with which any satisfying approach will have to grapple.

This essay was solicited as a reply to a recent …

What Ed Cooper Has Taught Me About The Realities And Complexities Of Appellate Jurisdiction And Procedure, Catherine T. Struve

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No abstract provided.

Antitrust's "Jurisdictional" Reach Abroad, Herbert J. Hovenkamp

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In its Arbaugh decision the Supreme Court insisted that a federal statute’s limitation on reach be regarded as “jurisdictional” only if the legislature was clear that this is what it had in mind. The Foreign Trade Antitrust Improvement Act (FTAIA) presents a puzzle in this regard, because Congress seems to have been quite clear about what it had in mind; it simply failed to use the correct set of buzzwords in the statute itself, and well before Arbaugh assessed this requirement.

Even if the FTAIA is to be regarded as non-jurisdictional, the constitutional extraterritorial reach of the Sherman Act is …

Institutional Practice, Procedural Uniformity, And As-Applied Challenges Under The Rules Enabling Act, Catherine T. Struve

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The article offers information on the federal practices, uniformity in the actions and challenges faced by Supreme Court in decisions related to the court cases. It assesses the court cases Shady Grove Orthopedic Associates, PA v. Allstate Insurance Co. and Hanna v. Plumer and mentions the challenges of jurisdiction in taking decisions.

Sovereign Litigants: Native American Nations In Court, Catherine T. Struve

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No abstract provided.

Power, Protocol And Practicality: Communications From The District Court During An Appeal, Catherine T. Struve

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No abstract provided.

Ruth Bader Ginsburg And Sensible Pragmatism In Federal Jurisdictional Policy, Tobias Barrington Wolff

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This article, written as part of a symposium celebrating the work of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg on the occasion of her fifteenth year on the Supreme Court, examines the strain of sensible legal pragmatism that informs Justice Ginsburg's writing in the fields of Civil Procedure and Federal Jurisdiction. Taking as its point of departure the Supreme Court's decision in City of Chicago v. International College of Surgeons, in which Ginsburg dissented, the article develops an argument against strict textualism in federal jurisdictional analysis. In its place, the article urges a purposive mode of interpretation that approaches jurisdictional text with a …

Has The Erie Doctrine Been Repealed By Congress?, Geoffrey C. Hazard Jr.

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No abstract provided.

Greater And Lesser Powers Of Tort Reform: The Primary Jurisdiction Doctrine And State-Law Claims Concerning Fda-Approved Products, Catherine T. Struve

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No abstract provided.

Tribal Immunity And Tribal Courts, Catherine T. Struve

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No abstract provided.

How Bad Law Made A Hard Case Easy: Nevada V. Hicks And The Subject Matter Jurisdiction Of Tribal Courts, Catherine T. Struve

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No abstract provided.

Turf Struggles: Land, Sovereignty, And Sovereign Immunity, Catherine T. Struve

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No abstract provided.

Raising Arizona: Reflections On Sovereignty And The Nature Of The Plaintiff In Federal Suits Against States, Catherine T. Struve

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No abstract provided.

Where's The Beef? The Interjurisdictional Effects Of New Jersey's Entire Controversy Doctrine, Stephen B. Burbank

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No abstract provided.

The Reluctant Partner: Making Procedural Law For International Civil Litigation, Stephen B. Burbank

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No abstract provided.

The Vanishing Precedent: Eduardo Meets Vacatur, Jill E. Fisch

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No abstract provided.

Compounding Or Creating Confusion About Supplemental Jurisdiction? A Reply To Professor Freer, Thomas D. Rowe Jr., Stephen B. Burbank, Thomas M. Mengler

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No abstract provided.

A Coda On Supplemental Jurisdiction, Stephen B. Burbank, Thomas D. Rowe Jr., Thomas M. Mengler

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No abstract provided.

Afterwords: A Response To Professor Hazard And A Comment On Marrese, Stephen B. Burbank

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No abstract provided.