Vol. III
The Architecture of Civil Procedure
MMXXVI
Forthcoming
The Architecture of Civil Procedure
Pleadings, motions, and the path of a case.
Faculty of the School of Civil Procedure
← The Academy
A School of the Academy
School of Civil Procedure
Department of Civil Practice & Procedure
Pleadings, motions, discovery, and the rules of the court.
§ I
Introduction
Scope of Study
Civil Procedure
Procedure is the architecture of every case. The School teaches the Federal Rules and the practice that orbits them, with attention to local rules that govern in the room.
§ II
Philosophy of the School
On how this School reads.
Procedure is the form in which substantive law is administered. The School treats the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure as the principal text and the local rules of the forum as the binding gloss. A case is read as a sequence of filings, each governed by a rule and each producing a record.
§ III
What Students Will Study
The commitments of the School.
A School commits to a set of questions and to a method of reading them. The following are the working commitments of this department.
- 01
The architecture of a civil action under the Federal Rules
- 02
The drafting and answering of pleadings
- 03
The motion practice that frames a case before trial
- 04
The instruments of discovery and the duties they impose
- 05
The procedural posture by which a case reaches the appellate courts
§ IV
Curriculum
The syllabus.
The syllabus is read in sequence. Foundations are not optional; advanced study presumes them.
Foundations
- 01
The complaint under Rule 8 and the plausibility standard
- 02
Service of process under Rule 4
- 03
Subject-matter jurisdiction and removal
Intermediate Study
- 01
Rule 12 motions and the order in which defenses are raised
- 02
Joinder, intervention, and consolidation
- 03
Discovery under Rules 26 through 37
Advanced Study
- 01
Summary judgment under Rule 56
- 02
Pretrial orders and the conduct of trial
- 03
Appellate jurisdiction and the standards of review
Research & Method
- 01
Locating the local rules of a federal district
- 02
Reading a judge's standing order against the Federal Rules
- 03
Tracing a procedural doctrine through the advisory committee notes
Reference Materials
- 01
Federal Rules of Civil Procedure
- 02
Federal Rules of Evidence
- 03
Local rules of the district and circuit
Suggested Reading
- 01
Wright & Miller, Federal Practice and Procedure
- 02
Moore's Federal Practice
§ V
Learning Outcomes
The capacities a member should leave with.
Outcomes are stated as capacities, not credentials. They describe what a member should be able to do after sustained reading.
- 01
Draft a pleading that satisfies Rule 8 and survives Rule 12
- 02
Design and respond to a discovery plan under Rule 26
- 03
Identify the standard of review on appeal for a given ruling
§ VI
Primary Authorities
The texts the School takes seriously.
Authorities are listed by category. Entries marked in preparation are catalogued and reviewed before they enter the working record.
Court Rules
4 entries
Authority
Federal Rules of Civil Procedure
Authority
Federal Rules of Appellate Procedure
Authority
Federal Rules of Evidence
Authority
Local rules of the United States district courts
Judicial Opinions
1 entry
In Preparation
Forthcoming — Supreme Court procedural decisions in preparation
Treatises & Restatements
2 entries
Authority
Wright & Miller, Federal Practice and Procedure
Authority
Moore's Federal Practice
§ VII
Featured Publications
From the press of the institution.
The following volumes are drawn from, or supply, the work of this School. Each is reviewed by faculty before publication.
Monograph No. 1
An Introduction to Legal Research
MMXXV
In Press
An Introduction to Legal Research
The hierarchy of authority and the discipline of citation.
Faculty of the School of Legal Research
Vol. II
Consumer Credit Authority
MMXXVI
Forthcoming
Consumer Credit Authority
The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act and the Fair Credit Reporting Act, read as written.
Faculty of the School of Consumer Credit
The Society Press
All publications →§ VIII
Research in the Library
Where this School reads.
The divisions below carry the primary materials this School draws on. The catalogue opens in stages as the index is reviewed.
Library Division
Court Rules
Federal and state rules of procedure, evidence, and local practice.
Library Division
Judicial Opinions
Selected opinions of the federal and state courts of record.
Library Division
Treatises
Restatements, hornbooks, and reference works of accepted authority.
Catalogue · XI Divisions
Enter the Research Library →§ IX
Related Schools
Departments that read alongside this one.
Doctrine does not respect departmental boundaries. The following Schools take up adjacent questions.
Admission
Join the founding cohort of the Civil Procedure department.
All Founding Members are admitted into every School. Tuition and dues are not yet open.
The Real Law Society · Est. MMXXVRead Law. Not Lore.Vol. I — Folio I