Wednesday audio--Section A only.
Clarification: Severing under FRCP 21 means placing a claim between parties into a separate civil action. Ordering separate trials under FRCP 20(b) means all claims and parties remain part of one civil action; we will just try hold different trials on different claims rather than all in one trial. Review the post on the structure of litigation--trial is one small, rarely reached piece of litigation or of a civil action.
Review and prep the remainder of Joinder. How should Rule 20 handle the problem presented in Jones--one large defendant's conduct injuring many people at different times. How does the plaintiff's framing of the case matter? What is Morgan's theory of Walmart liability for the accident? How (based on what you learned in torts) might Morgan have argued the case differently, creating a different joinder situation? What are the requirements of issue and claim preclusion? Prep the remaining questions and puzzles for this section.
On Friday, we will turn to Responding to a Pleading: Motions. For tomorrow, review FRCP 7(b) and the assigned portions of Rule 4.
