Course Description
The course in Civil Procedure introduces the structure and operation of the civil justice system. The term civil as used here distinguishes this field from the field of criminal law. The litigation processes studied involve lawsuits in which the parties seek civil remedies, such as compensatory or punitive damages, injunctive relief, or a declaratory judgment. In criminal litigation, in contrast, the government seeks to impose criminal sanctions on the defendant for unlawful conduct. The course in civil procedure is largely an examination of the ground-rules for litigation between private parties.The term procedure refers to the rules and doctrines governing the process of litigation rather than the substantive principles underlying the claims and defenses in litigation. The emphasis is on questions lawyers face in litigation, such as how and where to start a lawsuit, how factual investigation takes place, what claims and parties can be combined in a single lawsuit, what mechanisms a court can use to end a lawsuit without trial, and which questions are barred from litigation after a final judgment. While courts prefer to resolve cases on the merits, many lawsuits are won or lost because of procedural issues that have nothing to do with the merits.
Updated: 04/05/2011