|
III. Choosing the Law to be Applied -- Read 28 U.S.C. §§ 1652, 2072; otherwise, LECTURE ONLY
If a federal court has subject matter jurisdiction over a case and personal jurisdiction over the defendant, will it apply federal or state law to determine issues in the case?
A. Constitutional and statutory restraints on a federal court's authority to craft common law: Article III, The Rules of Decision Act, The Rules Enabling Act.
B. How does a federal court determine the content of state law?
C. When and why must a state court use federal law?
[Issues concerning pleadings, discovery, and other pre-trial activity also are discussed in Stern, The Buffalo Creek Disaster, and we will raise them at the appropriate times.]
READ THE RULES!!!
READ THE RULES!!!
READ THE RULES!!!
Effective Dec. 1, 2007, the Fed.R.Civ.P. were “restyled” in an effort to put them into plainer English and make them easier to understand. As a result, the text of the Rules in your rulebook will vary from the text of the Rules discussed in the cases we will read. For the most part, the drafters did not intend to change the substance of the Rules. You should keep the changes in mind, however; and from time to time we will discuss whether the restyling has changed the meaning of various Rules. I will email you a chart that compares the restyled Rules with their immediate predecessors.
|
