Law School
Here, you will find all things law school related
Civil Procedure: Grable Substantial Federal Issue Test
The Grable Test carves out a "special and small category" of cases from state court jurisdiction arising from state-law claims. The Grable Test serves to determine whether federal question jurisdiction exists when there is a federal issue claimed to be embedded within a state law claim. Grable & Sons Metal Prods. v. Darue Eng'g... »
Subject Matter Jurisdiction: §1331 – Federal Question
In order to get into Federal Court under §1331, a plaintiff must demonstrate that a the case arises from a right or interest that is substantially founded on federal law. Further, the federal question must be affirmatively stated in the complaint, which is known as the well-pleaded complaint rule. »
Civil Procedure: Erie Doctrine
Erie established that in federal diversity cases, matters characterized as substantive would be governed by state law, and those characterized as procedural would be governed by federal law. This became known as the “substance versus procedure” test. »
Tort Law: Res Ipsa Loquitur
Res Ipsa Loquitur is latin for "the thing speaks for itself." Though it is seldom used today, due to scientific advances, res ipsa loquitur is a common law theory of evidence used in torts to help a plaintiff establish proof that a defendant was unreasonable in his or her conduct. Res ipsa loquitur allows... »
Civil Procedure: Forum Non Coveniens
Latin for, "inappropriate forum," forum non conveniens (FNC) is a common law doctrine that gives courts the discretionary power to decline hearing a case if there is both an undue hardship on the defendant and a more convenient forum the case to be heard in. »
Federal Preemption
Generally speaking, when there is a conflict between state and federal law, federal law will preempt, or overrule, state law. The power of federal preemption derives its power from Article 6 of the Consitution, commonly referred to as the "Supremecy Clause." »
Circus Ponies
Circus Ponies notebook is arguably the best thing to hit the computer world since Windows… oh, wait, maybe Windows wasn’t a good thing. I digress. Circus Ponies is a feature rich application that affords Mac users the ability to compile all their notes into a central, user friendly environment. Interestingly enough, the two target... »
Survival Actions
A survival action is brought by the executor of the deceased's estate to recover for pain and suffering that may have occurred prior to death while the deceased was conscious. »
Wrongful Death
In torts, wrongful death and survival damages allow a person to recover monetary damages for the death another. Under English common law, there was no recovery for a tort that caused death. This was justified with the "felony-merger rule," premised on the idea that any killing was a disturbance of the King's peace -... »
Loss of Consortium
Loss of consortium is a blanket term in torts used to describe the damages suffered by a spouse when the other spouse is seriously injured or killed. Damages for loss of consortium include: general usefulness, household services, affection, comfort, and sexual services. »