Jurisdiction means, literally, the power to speak the law. In practical terms, it refers to the power of a court to issue a ruling that binds a natural person, entity, or thing (such as personal property or real estate). While…
Category: Civil Procedure
The Framers Intended What? Here’s an Originalism Idea: Let a Jury Decide.
The Rhode Island federal district court had a grand total of six trials in calendar year 2018, according to recently announced statistics. That includes both civil and criminal trials. With 855 new cases filed in the Rhode Island federal district…
New R.I. Federal Court Rule On Discovery Likely To Save Clients At Least A 100 Large A Year
Unlike other countries, the so-called “American Rule” requires each side to pay their own attorney’s fees in litigation regardless of who wins. Unless a statute or contract shifts attorney’s fees from one side to the other, or one side behaves…
Which One’s Bruno? Judge McConnell Issues Important Decision on Anonymous Lawsuits
Brown University is not known for effervescent school spirit at sporting events, but the ol’ “which one’s Bruno?” cheer has stood the test of time. It usually starts with one really loud person yelling, “Let’s go Bruno!,” and then someone…
Good Things Come in Threes: Three New Calendar Orders for Kent County
Growing up my older brother played hockey, so of course I did too. One perk of being a squirt (that’s a hockey term) was trips to the old Boston Garden to watch the Boston Bruins. Tradition held that if a…
Federal District Court and the Dreaded Six Month List – It’s More and Less Than It Seems
Every six months, the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts publishes the dreaded Six Month List. The Six Month List describes itself as a “semiannual report showing, by U.S. district judge and U.S. magistrate judge, all motions pending more than…
Decoding The Calls and Different Court Calendars in Rhode Island Superior Court
When I was more of a spring chicken than I am now, a senior associate invited me to tag along at a Superior Court motion calendar hearing. “It’s time you learn what formal, ready, and ready subject mean,” she said. …
Let’s Confer About Conferring and Then Confer: Latest Proposed Change to Federal Rules Is Further Evidence Judges Don’t Like Discovery Disputes
On August 15, 2018, the federal Committee on Rules of Practice and Procedure released its latest proposed change to the federal rules of civil procedure to require opposing parties to confer in good faith when serving deposition notices to organizations under…
Stipulation or Consent Motion or Private Agreement? A View from the Salt Mines
Litigation is adversarial. The inherent conflict means that most lawsuits involve parties who don’t like each other, and there’s a natural tendency to refuse to budge on anything. But sometimes, in the midst of this systemic friction, it makes sense…
McDonnell Douglas and Diversity: the First Circuit’s Latest on the Thin Blue Line Between Procedure and Substance
Few legal concepts are more confusing than the rules that federal courts apply when sitting in diversity. Federal courts have limited jurisdiction. Jurisdiction loosely translates as the power to say what the law is and to whom it applies. (Courts…