CIVIL LAW AND PROCEDURES
I. An Overview of Civil Procedure
A. Purposes and Remedies: Regulates Relations Among Legal Entities
1. Damages
2. Restitution
3. Coercion
4. Declaration
B. Goals
1. Explicit
a. Resolve Disputes
b. Modify Behavior
c. Allocate Gains and Losses
2. Implicit
1. Maintain Social Order
2. Dispense Justice
3. Legitimize Government
II. Civil Law
A. Regulates Relations Among Legal Entities (Private and Public)
B. Major Categories of Private Civil Law
1. contract
2. tort (Personal Injuries)
3. property
8. Class Action Suits (defined)
9. libel
C. Major Categories of Public Civil Law
1. Taxes
2. Regulations
3. Welfare
4. Labor/Business Relations
5. Foreign Policy
III. Processes (flow chart)
A. Initial Decisions
1. Knowledge of Available Remedies
2. Access to Legal Counsel
3. Motivation
B. Prerequisites for Court Action
1. Presence of a case (adversity; substantial legal interests, real set of facts; available judicial remedy)
2. Establishment of standing to sue
3. Establishment of court jurisdiction
4. Meeting all court deadlines
C. Stages of Trial
1. Filing of a complaint by plaintiff
2. Serving a Process on the defendant
3. Filing an answer to the complaint
4. Discovery; Depositions; Interrogatories
5. Motions
5. Trial
6. Burden of Proof (preponderance of evidence standard)
7. Verdict and Remedies
D. Stages of Post-Trial Period
1. Post-trial motions
2. Compliance with or enforcement of judgment
IV. Alternative Dispute Resolution
V. Cases in Equity - United States experience with Equity cases
Key Web Sites
National Center for State Courts
Federal Rules of Civil Procedure
