Verdicts, Judgments + Appeals

Question 1

Final Judgment Rule

Answer 1

The federal courts of appeals have jurisdiction over appeals from final judgments of the district courts.

Question 2

What is a final judgment?

Answer 2

a decision by the court on the merits that leaves nothing for the court to do but execute the judgment.

Question 3

Res judicata

Answer 3

provides that a final judgment on the merits of an action precludes the parties from successive litigation of an identical claim in a subsequent action.

Question 4

To bar a claim under res judicata:

Answer 4

1. The original claim must have resulted in a valid final judgment on the merits;
2. The original and later-filed causes of action must be sufficiently identical (i.e., related to the same transaction or occurrence); AND
3. The claimant and the defendant must be the same (and in the same roles) in both the original and later-filed action, or privity exists between the parties in the original and later-filed action.

Res Judicata is limited to the parties and their privies; thus, a similar action by a different party would NOT be barred under res judicata.

Question 5

Collateral estoppel

Answer 5

precludes the re-litigation of issues of fact or law that have already been necessarily determined by a judge or jury as part of an earlier claim.

claim preclusion

Question 6

To bar an issue under collateral estoppel:

Answer 6

1. The issue sought to be precluded must be the same as that involved in the prior action (i.e., the facts relevant to the particular issue and the applicable law must be identical);
2. The issue must have been actually litigated in the prior action;
3. The issue must have been determined by a valid final judgment on the merits; AND
4. The determination of the issue must have been essential to the prior judgment.

Question 7

Default judgment

Answer 7

a ruling granted by a court that arises when one party to a suit fails to perform a court-ordered action, so the court settles the legal dispute in favor of the compliant party

(e.g., a defendant is summoned to appear before the court in a case brought by a plaintiff, but fails to respond to the court’s order, the judge can rule for default judgment and thereby decide the case in the plaintiff’s favor).

Question 8

Preclusive Effect (of a default judgment)

Answer 8

A default judgment will have a preclusive effect if the court had valid personal and subject matter jurisdiction.

States vary as to the extent of preclusion a default judgment has, but generally, a party is barred from asserting defenses or compulsory counterclaims that could have been raised in that original action.

Question 9

interlocutory order

Answer 9

an order that is provisional, interim, temporary, or non-final (e.g., TROs).

Question 10

Although most interlocutory orders are NOT immediately appealable, certain equitable orders are immediately reviewable as a matter of right, including:

Answer 10

• An order granting, modifying, refusing, or dissolving an injunction;
• An order appointing or refusing to appoint a receiver; AND
• A decree determining the rights and liabilities of the parties to admiralty cases in which appeals from final decrees are allowed.

Question 11

doctrine of collateral order

Answer 11

allows a party to appeal interlocutory rulings (e.g., TROs) before a final judgment has been reached if the ruling decides a claim or issue:

1. That is separable from and collateral to the merits of the case;
2. Involves a serious and unsettled legal question; AND
3. Would be effectively unreviewable if the court waited until final judgment to hear the claim or issue.

Question 12

Mandamus Review

Answer 12

a court of appeals can immediately review an order that is an abuse of judicial authority

(e.g., orders beyond the trial court’s jurisdiction, orders that violate a mandatory duty of the trial court, etc.).

Such review does NOT extend to all orders that constitute an error of law.